noisyboy

Quote

passport is in possession of ex since we moved here (10+ years ago) ... psycho ex thinks I will kidnap my child... even she knows my home country would put me in jail and send child back

Assuming you have documentary proof of being her father in your possession, you can report the foreign passport being lost at the embassy and apply for  a fresh foreign passport on her behalf. Regarding the foreign country sending her back, they won't if you have proof of the mistreatment of your daughter by her mother. If you don't any right now, maybe you should start planning/collecting those (text messages/circumstantial evidence etc) - every bit of paper counts.

Hi,

I'm scheduled to visit Phuket for a day as part of a cruise. My passport requires Visa-on-arrival. I was wondering if Phuket immigration has the facility to process Online Visa-on-Arrival which was recently introduced. The idea is to save time filling up numerous forms etc. I have read online that Suvarnabhumi Airport has a counter for processing Online Visa-on-Arrival but couldn't find anything that confirms if Phuket can handle this too.

Thanks!

You don't know everything (You know nothing). Classic mia.

I have first hand experience of medical services in both Singapore and Thailand. Singapore is not exactly all that amazing that it is touted to be - doctors/staff have made mistakes/oversights (luckily nothing fatal), there is a distinct lack of service attitude (though that is visible in most of Singapore service sector). One thing Singapore is far ahead of Thailand is in Engligh language skills (which is obviously important).

If you are not loaded (which is very much the majority of medical tourists), Thailand strikes a much better balance in terms of reasonably good care at FAR better prices.

What a load of dross. I went to Phuket in 1991, and the sex shows were alive and well there then. Now, there are even more. Phuket is a steaming turd in the Andaman, and anyone that has spent anytime there knows that Patong is no different than Pattaya. It's a shame, as there are some nice spots there, but most of the comments by the authorities are just usual BS.

So which is it, a "steaming turd" or a place with "some nice places"?

Like many, you confuse Patong, one over built, seedy, smelly beach town with all of Phuket, an island the size of Singapore. Bang Tao, Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Surin, Kamala, Karon, Kata, Kata Noi, Ya Nui, Nai Harn, make up 90% of the west coast and are all nice beaches which cannot accurately be described as part of your "steaming turd". And lets not forget about all the other areas of Phuket that are not Patong such as Rawai, Chalong, Kathu, Phuket Town, Chang Talay, and Thalang. In addition Cape Panwa, Cape Promtheap, Khao Pra Teaw Wildlife Reserve and Sirinat National Marine Park are lovely places and rarely visited by tourists.

Couldn't agree more. I remember how much I enjoyed taking my rented motorbike from my hotel to Kamala through the absolutely beautiful winding roads going uphill and downhill with the ocean by the side. Karon was a bit farther but the ride and the beach was lovely while being different. The adrenaline rush of doing bunjee jumping, jet skiing and zooming to Kamala on the motorbike, all in a day, was incredible!

Though I think I was lucky to have avoided the various motorbike/jet skii scams etc - considering the horror stories, wouldn't dare now.

Take Kuala Lumpur also off the list. I was denied an ED visa there, although my papers were ok and from one of the best Thai schools in Bangkok.

I agree. Having dealt with them several times, I was reminded of that immortal line from "The Last Detail" (1972, Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid, all time Hal Ashby classic):

"These guys are real pr_cks when they wanna be, and they always wanna be!"

The counter staff are all Malaysian locals, not Thai, and I swear it looks like they really get off on telling people no, especially when it involved someone losing money on their reservations, messing up their plans, whatever.

Vientiane is the place.

I've have had pretty lousy experience at the KL immigration as well. On that occassion I caught a late night flight from Singapore and after a days work was tired and not beaming. The Malay lady at the counter snapped at me saying "why you make face like that? You don't have to come here if you don't want!". It took a whole lot of forced grinning/bearing/cajoling to get through that. Incidentally I was going to Vientianne via KL then and when I landed at Vientianne next morning, immigration was a breeze compared to the nasty experience at KL.

Edit: spelling

The relationship between the US and India is reasonably strong and relatively stable, so there is no reason for the US to be concerned about this particular missile at this point in time. Israel is of virtually no interest to Indian. Pakistan is a much greater threat to Israel than India.

You are correct about the post-Bush era of strengthening relationship between India and US. However, it is quite incorrect that Israel is of no interest to India.

Israel is of great interest to India - India is the largest buyer of security equipment from Israel. Israeli Ambassador Alon Ushpiz said his country follows a very strict guidelines in exporting weapons systems and there was no question of reversing its policy of not supplying military hardware to Pakistan - his quote "Very specifically we do not export weapons system to Pakistan. We have a very strict set of regulations for exporting. It is very very sophisticated process and different agencies are engaged in that. India is a close friend".

Why go out and drink together with your wife in the first place when you know she goes crazy when she's drunk???

A lot of middle aged chinese-singaporean "tai-tai"s usually don't leave the decision making to husband.

Snow Lotus. If you don't know what that is, ask your wife/gf. I've heard women say "it ruins the skin in the long run, but it does whiten so I'm buying it...". Sigh.

OP should start doing the household groceries and magically see the expenses returning to human levels.

Even after death, change of species, re-incarnation and geo-location, a male's value is determined by how much money he gets his wife... sigh..

I'm not buying one word of this. That doesn't mean it isn't so, but the thing that gets me is the "hacked into email and reads email." I know how to change the password for my email and so does everyone else on here.

Many parts of the writing look American to me but I can't tell for sure.

Nice try.

On that point alone where he states:

"Hacked my email ID using someone from USA and has taken control of it and checks it regularly"

Why the emphasis on someone from the USA? As you have rightly said how difficult is it to change the password to "un-hack" the account?

I called this BS in an earlier post, and none of his replies have changed my mind on this. When he called me dude in his reply to selected comments I had made (his #12) reinforced this. That's not to say Indians don't use this term, just that I have never heard one use it before, not even from a help centre............

I bet he is Indian and the two points you mentioned actually reinforce my belief/gut feel. Accent in wall of text (OP) is Indian, this propensity to associate Hacking (or any high falutin technical thing) with USA is very Indian (as if that absolves the claim from all challenges) and this ascending/descending into "dude" when communicating with others (especially foreigners, ostensibly) in order to more "english"/"american" than thou. Tell tell signs.

OP probably is a middle class, educated, horny "dude" dicking around in Thailand forums in search of exotic/suggestive/sexual chat/contact etc. and landed this gem of a woman. Now the "good/decent boy" is getting <deleted> in the rear cavity by his catch and is pissing his pants that his/his family's "name" will be spoiled, his friends/acquaintances/customers would come to know and basically he is done for in the eyes of his, probably quite conservative, circle.

Or he is bored witless and is taking TV for a ride. But he is still Indian.

Source: Indian

Did he shoot him for shagging his wife or disrespecting him?

Yes.

I've been using my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" (wifi) model for over an year now without any rooting/flashing etc. Apart from not being able to use TitaniumBackup, I haven't noticed any downsides. The tablet still is very responsive and I don't see ANY slowness so I don't see any need for overclocking. I do NOT like manufacturer customizations but apart from a bit of gaudiness of Samsung TouchWiz (probably due to color oversaturation of AMOLED), I realized find that they have done a VERY good job of putting everything exactly where it would be most useful. Typically I install ADW launcher immediately after getting any new Android device but for this one, I didn't and haven't felt any need so far.

For the record, I've rooted and flashed roms on my HTC Desire (it was fun tinkering!).

Mind you, I've been a Linux user for well over a decade and openly confess to having a bit of an OCD when it comes to my desktop environment; I'm also an obsessive customizer. However, I've noticed that for tablets, you are hardly interacting with the OS for most part once you set it up the way you like. Most of the time, changing launchers and installing utility apps is sufficient for most users and most of that doesn't require rooting.

I think the shocked people should cut the dude some slack. He prayed for 38 years and when he finally got his reward, folks are pissed? Anyway his business, monky or not, is his own.

I believe the only way to really stamp this out is for the name brand companies to start reevaluating their pricing on their goods and compete with these crooks rather than charge 15,000 THB for a single item that costs them 300 to make.

Why would re-evaluate something which is the precise reason you sell so much? Among other reasons, one f the reaso people spend so much money on those items is because they are so expensive.

They don't sell you simple goods, they sell you idea of membership to an exclusive club of other owners.

They sell you a way to shout "I have money" without actually shouting.

I mean, I wouldn't go buy a 20,000 baht pair of sunglasses just because the 100 baht pair doesn't say Okley on them.

Surely you have met people whose first response to your compliments on an item is, "it cost me xyz".

Counterfeit products sell since they allow people to do above things (or atleast make them think they are doing them) without actually spending a load of cash.

As you don't have any issues asking in a public forum about your girlfriend, you shouldn't have any installing a keylogger on the computer she uses and let it roll for couple of weeks. Nothing is stronger than written proof.

The Chinese are the new rising race. They are growing in money, influence and are eager to make up for decades of malignant lack of economic progress. They also like to speak their own language whenever they can since, even after the massive drive to learn english in China, the proficiency is not as widespread as some other countries in Asia e.g. Philipines. They bring with them their own set of advantages and disadvantages, but any country which wishes to build economic ties with them would do nicely to learn their language. When a chinese company deals with a Thai company, they would like to have somebody in Thailand who can speak a bit of their language and better bridge the communication gap.

The chances of success of the initiative would obviously be coloured by the fates of such endeavours of past and also the changing geo-political landscape. However, there arn't many downsides to learning the language of a growing country which can arguably be a superpower in not so distant future.

I would say Thinkpads/Mackbooks would be a safe, albeit pricier choice. Typically a significant number of developers use them and the hardware is generally well supported. I personally own an HP nx6320 business laptop (now discontinued) and it works great with all Ubuntu versions I've tried.

A useful link would be regular flights from Bangkok to Huay Xai - would provide an alternative entry to Laos in addition to the Vientianne/Luang Prabhang route. Though that would give a boost to that awful casino at the Golden Triangle and frankly don't see that happening anytime soon.

This time, they did it for kicks.

There was a contingent of UDD/Red Shirts goping to Laos, and another one to Cambodia. Due to the restrictions the communist authorities placed on them in Lao, many have since diverted to Cambodia.

Only if Thaksin were "eternal friends" with the Chinese.

1. Thaksin stays far away from Thailand.

2. Thaksin ocassionally comes nearby on pretext of Songkran etc.

3. Thaksin hovers around more often.

4. THE RETURN OF THAKSIN!!!!

This is merely an acclimatisation exercise.

Mint is based on Ubuntu. If you like the Gnome 2 interface (the one with proper taskbar, desktop icons etc.), you can use upto Gnome 10.10. Graphical boot requires some minor tweaks after installation if you are using Grub. Just google for "Grub grahpical boot" or "changing background for grub boot menu".

Some points which may answer your question:

1. You can have upto 4 primary partitions on a disk OR 3 primary and an extended partition (which is kind of a container for more partitions inside it). I would choose the latter.

2. I typically reserve the first primary partition for Windows (format it as ntfs/fat32). Atleast keep 25 GB for this - I burned my fingers when I only allocated 15GB and that got quickly full (even though I don't keep any users files on it).

3. The second could be the root partition for Linux - ext3/4. There is no need to have a separate boot partition now a days; it can be part of the root partition. Just remember that the more things you keep in root (vis-a-vis creating dedicated partitions for them), the larger the size of this partition should be.

4. The third could be kept as a shared data storage - if you format it as fat32 (or ntfs - that works fine with newer linuxes and is a better choice I think). You can use it as a common place to put your data which would be available in both Windows and Linux which is what you need.

4. Fourth partition would be the extended partition which would house your swap/home etc.

5. Atleast for Ubuntu installer, it provides you with a choice of manual partitioning. Don't be scared and that that choice - all the above things are a breeze with that option and gives you full control.

No need for anti-virus yet.

USB thumb drives are already formatted as exFAT. If you are using it across windows/linux (as I would expect), FAT32 would be an inefficient but safe choice.