jonboy

I read a news clipping the other day saying that a large group of Thais will soon be forming a pickit line in support of their God given right to have a good rumage up their snouts.

I'll get my coat

Hey george.I signed up and it said it had sent a pin to my phone but that was yesterday and still nothing.I'm with Hutch btw.

Thnx

I have a tourist tripple entry visa which allows me 2 months at a time which can be extended at the immigration office for 1,900 for 1 month extra.When I went to Sungai kolok border I was stamped in for 3 months.When I asked a few people what should I do I was told that if I had an official stamp saying to leave on November 2 then it was official.........

...I went to the Cambodian border yesterday and the officials there didn't seem to have the same take on the matter.They said I had overstayed by 1 month and had to pay 6200 baht(31 days x 200 baht).I argued it was an official stamp and that it wasn't my fault the lady had made a mistake.He eventually agreed that(all this was done politely and with smiles btw)it was half my fault(for not telling them earlier)and half the lady's fault at Sungai Kolok and therefore I should pay half.He then spent 20 mins trying to get hold of the lady over the phone and when he did he explained the situation.The lady said that basically it was my fault for not telling them earlier and that she wouldnt take ANY responsibility at all.I went on to say that I also wasn't taking any responsibility for this and the reply was that(with a smile)he couldnt let me go through the border and that he must have me arrested for breaking the law???!! I obviously was not in the best position to bargain with him at the border as he had me by the short and curlies.I asked if he couldnt just sign this off as a simple mistake(hahaha)...NO chance(somebody had to pay).He offered that I could argue this out with the lady at Sungai Kolok if I wanted to but she couldnt speak any English...lol!...so back upto 6200 again

By now all the others with the Jack Golf tour had been to the casino and eaten and were back in the cue and some going back to the van and there was me who hadn't even left thailand.Due to this and not wanting to piss off 14 other people and also not wanting to get arrested I had to pay the money.

My question is ...have any of you had similar experiences and what did you do?Do you think I'll ever see the money again if I complain to immigration office?You got any numbers of friendly immigration staff members?

Thanks

So what can I do?

I only have a british car driving licence.

OK I thought i'd keep this thread going instead of starting a new one.What happens when my Thai 1 year driving licience runs out if I no longer have a non-imm b visa?will they renew it?

Thanks

But what about the plane question?

Will be down south at the Malaysian border on the 5th of next month(next week).If I have time I'll look at both Songkla and Trang.Whats the cheapest/easiest way(flying) of getting back from down there, back upto Bangkok? I know I can get an airasia flight from Naratiwat for a mere 999 baht.But do I really need to go back all the way down there after visiting these places?

What choices(flying) do I have?

Thanks

Thanks for all the help so far....keep them coming!!

So far I think Trang sounds nice but would like more info on Phak Phanang and on Kath on Phuket.

Cheers

Hi all,

I've been thinking for a while now that i've had my fill of Bangkok and that It would be nice to experience living life by/near the sea(as the plan was when I first came here 3 years ago!!).I did a bit of travelling when I first came to thailand but unfortuneatly they were all lonely planet places.What I would like if the place exists is...

1, At or near the beach(or a short motorbike ride away)

2, Not a tourist spot but still have the odd(not strange)Falang knocking around.

3,Hopefully have a few schools near town so as to get some work.

4,Not extremely important but would preffer somewhere near the Andaman sea.

5,Not to be right in the middle of a busy town but near enough to be able to scoot down to a tesco/Makro or maybe a few bars.

Maybe you've been on your hols here or a trip for another reason and found a place like this that you have thought would be nice to settle in when you get the opportunity to.Well if you could share a few details on here with us it would be much appreciated.Failing that I can only think of getting the backpack out again unless anyone knows of any good websites where they have some indepth reviews(except Lonelyplanet me thinks).

Thanks

Great idea george!!!

Can I back up the UBC discount idea aswell.

Also for those who don't have work permits, then might I suggest that a current visa card from back home(if you have a visa card back home) be used as a guarantor against anybody wishing to abuse the card?

Also a few less negative comments guys?

I'm confused......

Where do I put the linksys MAC number?

I was given one from vonage with my linksys router.Should I have typed this in somewhere? Its set up.. ADSL->router/modem(SMC-NAT and firewall diabled)->linsys router->computer

Cheers Monty

What is a MAC address and how important is it?

Hi all ,

This is what I did(im on true 1meg package in Bkk)....I bought the SMC model i mentioned and im using that in place of the billion modem issued by true.Now I then(from advice off others)diabled the firewall and NAT to make it a dumb modem(i believe).Then (it's just a regualr modem now right?) i connected this to my linksys and that to both my comp and my phone.Didnt work for ages but after a while(the next day) hey presto...It all worked.the telephone and the internet.I forwarded a few ports and cliked upnp and I was awayon the net aswell.Now after the first 2 calls(immaculate quality on both sides)..I went to work.When I came back I could still use the net but the phone had problems.They still could hear me perfectly...but all I hear is big distortion.Sometimes im not sure if they are even speaking....

This is where I still am!! Its worked since then but now it doesnt again!

I have bandwidth saver on full(best quality)....ive upped the voice Qos to 512(from 256)....no joy so changed back..

Any suggestions?

P.s. im not sure what bridge mode is changmaithai...and is this jinet available in bkk?...if so how much?

What ports need to be opened in HL2?

Wow Thanks alot for that.Just to make it even better it was near exactly what someone else told me(from what I can get my head around!!).This is the router ill try to buy at seri center(pantip is too far away)tomorrow..

http://www.smc-asia.com/index.php?option=d...p=page&SubMenu=

seems the same as what your using bkk-mike.Well thanks again and im sure i'll have more question tomorrow after my shopping spree!

P.s. sorry to pester you but was running out of options....as I know NOTHING along these lines!

I got my mum to post mine from England and it arrived today......but I can't seem to set it up.My BILLION modem uses USB and the Linksys uses ethernet!!How did you guys get around this?I first thought of an adapter but was told that this wont work?

Pulling my hair out at the moment as I want to call NOW?!?

Is this right?....

1, isp cable into Billion modem.

2,cable from modem to Linksys

3,Linksys to computer

4, telephone to linksys socket 1

Cheers

Cheers Mike.

Does anyone have a referal coupon? Don't know if the UK branch does them yet but I have a coupon already off a U.S. customer that give me 1 free month and him 2 free months.......but I don't think it can be used in England from U.S??? Does UK have a referal program yet?

This looks very interesting indeed! Does the 9.99(England) give you FREE local and national calls? as it advertises 'unlimited local and national calls' but doesn't mention the word free....but also doesn't mention any costs(that I can see) for local and national calls. Now I ask this question because on some packages it gives you 500 free minutes.If it was free why would they give you 500 free minutes?

This looks very interesting indeed! Does the 9.99(England) give you FREE local and national calls? as it advertises 'unlimited local and national calls' but doesn't mention the word free....but also doesn't mention any costs(that I can see) for local and national calls.

Not a reply just a marker(sorry)to see what the response is to this(very interesting).

Yeah I think the ATM card is deff the easiest...but would like to know the charges they wack on top.

Thanks all

Have you done this??...Do you know what costs are involved?

Cheers

Ok...I know it's not a great amount of money but this week (maybe next) I need to tranfer 1,000 quid from my Natwest account in sunny england to LOS. Whats the best/cheapest way of doing this...I take it I have options??

P.s. I have a Bangkok Bank account here and I'm in Bangers.

cheers

Look above you!!