morocco

good song. some nice guitar work. thanks for the share.

I am currently on a double entry tourist visa (only my 2nd since coming to Thailand) and will be doing the Cambodian border run in February. I was worried about how these new regulations will effect my plans but it seems as though it should go as normal.

My question is: What will happen when I need to apply for a new tourist visa? Can I still get the 60 day double entry visa or will I have to get the new thai/cambodian visa, and if so how will it work?

This 60 day double entry visa is news to me. I have only been able to get a 60 day single entry visa as of late. I will try to find out more about this. As for the posters that have had problems at bordering crossings with paying extra,waiting hours or being intimated I don't understand. I have never had these problems in my years of crossing.And I am all ways crossing with my motorcycle. Maybe I have just been lucky. Hope my luck continues. I hope this new double visa works out as if it does then there could be a multiple visa for several SEA countries.

I have been crossing the border for years. No exit fee unless departing from airport. If you are paying 1000bht at border crossing then you are a push over,don't let them bully you. I like this new Thai/Cambo visa,think it is great.

Is or was stickman ever relevant? i kinda thought he went stale many years ago ,trying to reinvent himself as Bernard trink type ,

Well once you remember that his readership shares many similarities with the Thaivisa forrum demographic - namely, lots of relatively unremarkable foreign males holidaying or living in Thailand to pay for sex with women of a calibre they'd have zero chance of nailing at home, paid or otherwise - then you realise that he's being as "relevant" as he needs to be.

What's the likelihood that the majority of those who read his weekly musings regularly venture outside the monger haunts of Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza, Walking Street or the beer bars and stalls of Sukhumvit to quaff champagne and cocktails (with umbrellas) at Iron Fairies or Demo in Thonglor? They may have seen many more of these "new" expats bouncing down the street or strutting through Terminal 21 and Emporium and they may be slightly curious. He's just writing to appeal to his readership demographic.

As for the lowdown on Oskar, Firehouse, Long Table, Muse etc., in my opinion, they're far more enjoyable than the second rate pubs and bars in the monger and tourist enclaves. More civilised, more discerning, no drunken, guffawing morons groping everything in a skirt and no Gangnam Style. It's a simple formula; better class of customer = better experience.

Although there are lots more regular girls, there are still a few higher-grade freelancers who tend to dress up a bit more but, because they can be spotted a mile away, they don't do as well as they would at places like Spasso or CM2 with the male clientele those places attract.

Your user name suggests an explanation for such a judgemental post.

Many restaurants have signs saying there is a minimum charge for sitting at table. I can't see why this would not work at McD's

Dams are an ecological disaster everywhere. They cause species extinctions everywhere.

Generalizations are wrong everywhere.

I am being facetious, while being partly serious. But to say that all dams are disasters, I'm thinking, does not allow for shades of difference between them. Some dams have a demonstrably greater effect on environment than others. I wish that dams were not needed, but there are times when they may be useful because they are the least impactful choice. After all, coal plants are disasters, too.

Suppose several small dams allow a region to better avoid famine or lean years, with minimal effect on the environment (say the land is in a temperate zone, with few species that are unique to the dam's area of impact). Maybe the environment that is impacted is duplicated elsewhere, so that its effect on populations is negligible.

I think we need to apply some kind of standard of reasonableness. Of course that standard should constantly be revised, as technologies and understanding of their consequences evolve. Environmental reviews need to be periodically updated.

One of my issues in the case of Xayaburi is that an impartial environmental impact review has not been done. Many experts, scientists, et. al., who know more than I do have expressed reservations. I too have doubts, from having seen first-hand how important the river is to the lives of Southeast Asians. It is undoubtedly of extreme importance, and for far more than a single reason. True, there are years when a gobsmacking 2 million tons of fish are taken. The Mekong is an incredible resource-- it is the world's largest freshwater fish take in the world. If that markedly decreases (there is no way it will not if the river is dammed), how can such a protein source-- essentially free, and unlike agriculture, producing no carbon emissions-- be replaced?

But it's not just the fish. The river is a primary source of drinking water for millions. Also, the river will not carry as much sediment to the delta as previously. The Mekong delta is one of the three great rice baskets of Southeast Asia, along with the Chao Phraya delta, and the Irrawaddy delta. Their exports help feed the world. The Mekong delta, with its five levels of aquifers, is already a mess due to poor agricultural and water practice. Mainstem dams could well make things worse in one of the world's primary rice-producing regions. But we don't have a study to understand how much impact the dams could have.

Well said. These are the important issues that many don't consider. I'm sure Mr. Knowswhatis bestforeveryone will soon have an argument against these issues. lol

You certainly CANT blame the Thai Guy , a woman is not some form of property . He was just taking what was on Offer

An horrendous outcome . You cant just Take a Life because the guy is doing what comes naturally ..

Slipping a length to a Stray . The Canadian was most certainly not of sound mind ..But he's ruined his life now ..

Committing Murder in a situation like this .... " Just a Tad of overeaction " ..Not acceptable , on any count .

Just like you can blame a theife who steals something because someone forgot to lock the door.

Your logic makes no sense. The Thai guy is just as much to blame as the cheating wh*ore. There is also a good chance this man had been her gik for many years and they finally got caught. I know of several couples where the Thai wife has a Thai man all the while and as soon as the farang leaves, the Thai guy moves in until the farang comes home. One of them the Thai wife actually convinced the idiot farang the guy is her brother and he lives with them. She then brags to all the girls in the village the Thai man is her husband. TIT It happens.

Yea, funny and yet sad so many farangs chose to ignore this about Thai's

Pimay1

"Back where I am from I was taught that a person is responsible for their own actions and actions have consequences. Of course I'm an old fart from the old school and that is not popular in today's culture. It's always someone elses fault no mater what. Total BS. The Thai guy ultimately answered for his own actions which proves my point. I have no sypathy for this guy or the gf. It's just too bad the gf will not have to pay for her actions. But TIT. "

Please explain "TIT"

Terrible and tragic story. My guess is that the woman had a Thai boyfriend the whole time she knew the Canadian. Farang guys need to realize this is usually the situation.

I travel by motorcycle through Thailand,Cambodia and Laos. I use google maps on my iphone4 and it works great,even for remote areas. I have been very impressed. Been doing this for 3 years now. There are numerous app's you can get to work with maps such as TomTom,Garmin,Where to?,Thai Navi and others. I actually depend on my iphone4 fo navigation. I was going to buy new iphone5 but found out apple has dropped google maps and that was a deal breaker for me. Apparently apple's new maps is a joke. I you are going to very remote areas and also want to record your routes with waypoints then a Garmin GPS device is the way to go.

OzMick, on 2012-11-08 08:41:46, said:

It is Thailand's policy to steadily move away from fossil fuel generation. Is that policy wrong?

zakk9

"If the consequence is that the livelihood of 60 million people is endangered, it's most certainly wrong."

morocco

OzMick,are you starting to understand the big picture here?

http://bit.ly/U5RTeJ

Doesn't sound good

After 20 years working in the electricity generation industry (coal-fired BTW), I predict that in the future as fossil fuels are depleted, the objections to this dam will be seen as ridiculous and to waste such a valuable energy resource near-criminal.

Expected annual generation is 7,400 GWh the equivalent of burning 300,000 tonne of coal EACH YEAR.

Or you could try to produce 20GWh/day from solar, which would require a 2.5GW solar plant (allowing a capacity factor of 33.33%, much higher than achieved anywhere). The world's largest solar plants are being built in Oz (where hydro power availability is minimal), at 0.15 GW (150 MW) they are twice the size of anything yet built and estimated cost exceeds a billion $AU each.

So not only is the dam FAR cheaper than any alternative, it also requires far less maintenance, and produces power that can be sold at a much higher price due to 24hr availability and load-following ability.

Yea,that's right. And who cares about the millions of lives that will be affected when the 10 other proposed dams on built on this mighty river.

mhhhhhhhhhhh 15 degrees, would be a nice day in fall in my home country

15 degrees, are thai people freezing

555555555555555555555555

ps: same as with the free blankets handouts, do they burn the clothes every year ? was it not cold last couple of years ????

You're an idiot.

Yaba is a metaamphetamine,

Ice is a cocaine derivate (aka "Crystal Meth", look up the web for more horror stories)

"Boyfriend" was from Colombia. These black studs must have something, as so many Thai girls are smuggling drugs for them, hooking for them and now even killing for them.

Ice has nothing to do with cocaine. Not chemically or otherwise. One is not a derivative of the other.

yabba is amphetamine tablets and ice is crystal methamphetamine. Both are amphetamines but made from diff precursor ingredients.

yaba is methamphetamine tablets (mixed with caffeine and fillers), and ice is crystal methamphetamine.

the type of amphetamine is the same for both, just one end product is almost pure and the other is nowhere near pure.

So, they both are pretty much the same drug? Which one is stronger and more expensive?

Waitress in PP would earn about $60. a month, depending on their education and English levels.

Thanks,i found a forum in cambodja and get a lot of info there,Very cheap there for staff.

You pay 100us you get a ok one for sure.

what is name of forum you found?

morocco & crille, please check your PM.

Thanks Jessi. I have been following the site for couple years now. More sophisticated for sure.

Congratulations to FlatulantFrog for driving in and out of Malaysia and Laos, I have driven in and out of both countries and they are very different, suprisingly they are very different on both the Thai and other sides of the borders as there is much more paperwork needed to leave Thailand via Laos than leaving Thailand via Malaysia.

The comment made by edwinchester is normally only an issue if you turn up at the Burma (aka Myanmar) border without a pre-arranged visa, and under those circumstances you perhaps cannot leave the town of Irrawady, however I'm quite sure that restriction does not nesseseraly apply if you arrive with a suitable visa issued in Bangkok at the Myanmar Consulate.

This is different when you go to Tachiliek as Shan State issue a temporary (14 day) pass and hold on to your passport IF you don't have a visa already, it's easy enough to drive on up to the Chinese border but you cannot cross into China unless you have your passport (which means you needed a Visa for Myanmar in advance) and of course a Chinese Visa, though you probably still won't be allowed into China with a car, I say probably because it really dependes on who is on duty that day at the border and which way the wind is blowing, ie it's hit and miss at best. Your best bet is to keep smiling, tell the border guard how hansome he is, and be driving a Mercedes Benz !

In any event check the following, this is my quick guide to passing international borders in a car.

1/ The car should be in your name, and you should have the blue book (in your name). Whilst letters of authority MAY be acceptable, it's a easy reason to be refused.

2/ Though technically not required for countries other than Laos (where it's madatory) you should have a International Travel Document (car passport) issued at the Land Transport Office, you CANNOT get this if the car is on finance. It acts as a translation from the Thai and looks all very official and proper

3/ Arrive at the border early, my experience is that tricky borders are easier very early in the morning and I have passed through a border in Vietnam early that is reputed to be difficult/impossible and I'm sure it's because the border staff are half asleep!

4/ Expect a long wait and a lot of paperwork, if you are lucky they can't be bothered they will just wave you past, that's more likely if you arrive early.

5/ Keep smiling, and act like it's something you do all the time.

6/ Carry some packs of cigarettes to smooth the path when dealing with officials, and a small bottle of whiskey can work miracles if you really need it.

7. Be in a Mercedes Benz wherever possible

Maps can be difficult in Burma, you can buy photocopied road maps at the border sometimes but it's probably best to print some pages from Google Earth before you go. You will need to have a guide with you and hopefully he will know the way. If you travel on the Bus or by Taxi you don't need a guide, travelling by car you need an approved (licenced) guide and that will cost you about 1000 baht per day.

I'd be in interested to hear the "personal" expericences of others in Burma with a car, not so intereted in the opinions of armchair travellers who tho think they know it all !!

Not sure what you mean in #2 of your list about Laos. Never needed such documents when taking vehicle into Laos.Only regerstation card or papers were needed.All other entry doc's where always supplied on Laos side. Have done so 4 times and it was extremly easy.

All your other points are spot on.

I have taken my motorcycle into Burma two times,Shan State.Mind you I did this illegally north of Pai with some Thai Special Forces friends of mine. Toured a couple of rebel regions in the mountains the Thai have been training for years.Very beautiful country and the people there really impressed me. Hoping the country will open in the next year or two for foriegners to bring their vehicles in to travel more of the country than just the out skirts of the boarder towns.

Waitress in PP would earn about $60. a month, depending on their education and English levels.

Thanks,i found a forum in cambodja and get a lot of info there,Very cheap there for staff.

You pay 100us you get a ok one for sure.

what is name of forum you found?

I find Mohamad's story very strange, seems something fishy about it.

Sounds like you're purposely aggravating readers to get a response. Seems to be working.

The meaning of my post is to praise Thai women, I should not had made the comment about the men sitting around as I opened a separate issue that distracts from my main purpose.

So are you calling non-Thai women lazy?

Stop trolling

Well said.

HAHA,this is priceless. We come to their country to use and abuse these people and take advantage of their cheap economy. Yet we complain when they give us back some of our own medicine. We are all hypocrites in one form or another.

Hold on a second......

The vast majority of foreign guys do not use and abuse these people....??

Don't claim your blinkered views apply to all of us.

Oh,so these guys aren't heading over to Patts just to have sex with many young Thai ladies for as little money as they can?

HAHA,this is priceless. We come to their country to use and abuse these people and take advantage of their cheap economy. Yet we complain when they give us back some of our own medicine. We are all hypocrites in one form or another.

Do these laws mean that if I move to Thailand from Cambodia that I can't bring my motorcycle and register it in Thailand?

Need to go Mae Sai April 7 for visa run. Will be able to do this?

Here's the kicker (for most farang males): you're going to have to SERIOUSLY curb your pussy intake. Maybe 3-4 ST's a month? That's 3-4k gone. Do an LT, and it's 2k...you get the picture

You're assuming that pussy is charged. Strange as it may sound, there are plenty of women who do not charge (financially) for either ST or LT. From personal experience it seems to depend on what sort of person you are - my secret is available for $10,000

Simon

That's funny,$10,000. HAHA .I believe the secret is "just find a girl friend."She will be a lot cheaper than a p4p girl.