dddave

Thanks Chao Lao Beach; that PPRUNE link is great reading!!

While not the issue here people should be aware that there are laws in Thailand restricting the importation of used computer and other IT equipment.

A number of years ago, when baggage weight limits were much more liberal, I brought three used desktop units from the USA to donate to my local Moo Ban school.

Thai Customs pointed out the restrictions and told me that there were paperwork requirements that should have been completed in advance. Fortunately, I had the phone number of the school headmaster and they called him and had a long chat. Turned out the Customs Inspector was also from Udon Thani where the computers were going.

I was eventually allowed to pass through with the computers. No money was asked for.

One needs to be very careful when doing an online search using a specific airlines name such as "Thai Airways". There are many "Look Alike" websites that on first glance look authentic but are scam sites by dodgy travel agencies. The website names will have sitenames very similar to the airline...for instance Royal Thai Airlines or something like "Tickets:Cathey Pacific.com" They pay the search sites like GOOGLE for top page listings.

Very easy to get fooled.

I have gone to Koh Samui direct using Bangkok Air out of Swampy...B3000 for first flight of the day but quick and easy. Expensive taxis on Samui end, 6 to 700 Baht to Lamai.

Also have used Nok Air air/land/ferry combo via Surat Thani (about B2000)...Lots of walking, waiting, vaning; almost 11 hours by the time I got to hotel in Lamai. not including 2 hours advance time at Don Muang.

To me, just as good:

Bus (VIP) from Mor Chit, 24 seat, very comfortable (B1000 inc. ferry, bus to Lamai) usually about 12 hours to Lamai and IMHO, a more comfortable trip than air combo via Surat Thani without the uncertainty of delays and missed connections.

AFAIK, there is only one daily bus from Mor Chit (many more from Southern Bus Terminal) and it usually needs to be purchased in advance. Window 21

Suradeth Hotel, a 10 minute walk...about B500 (2 years ago). Rooms are small but clean and well furnished, Back rooms in a nice garden setting.

Directions from Consulate: Leave gate, turn right, then left at intersection. Walk about 400 meters to first right, hotel is about 50 meters on right.

Why not just get hotels with decent in room Wi-Fi for such a short period?

Sent you a PM with contact details.

Brother All-in-One inkjet would be a good choice. Many models are available on Lazada. The quality depends a lot on the paper you use. Buy brochure-quality paper and you'll be good to go.

Agree with the Brother suggestion. Ink type and quality will also be important, especially if printing on heavy glossy stock. You will need a good, water resistant ink with good adhesion. Many ordinary inks will rub off glossy when being handled as a brochure would.

I have never found a standard hotel in Bangkok that did not have a baggage holding service and very few have ever required a return reservation. Small guest houses excluded.

I know a number of offshore workers who visit Thailand regularly and always leave a bag with the clothes they wear here at their hotel so they don't have to lug it back and forth. Hotels routinely hold bags for months at a time.

Once, I helped a friend find a lost bag at the Sheraton baggage room; a very large room with 100's of bags. The bellhop said some of them had been there for years. I'm sure there are any number of bags in local hotel storage, left by people who will never return; whether by death or change of circumstance.

Just do not use the exchange kiosks in the baggage claim area, In the past they have had poorer EX rates than the Kiosks in other areas of the airport and as far as I know, the situation has not changed.

Seeing a lot of reports of excessive battery drain on N-6's running "L".

You can do it online but it can be a frustrating task. Do check out the US Embassy website. While you can not apply there, they do have some pertinent information.

The good news is that Social Security Admin. does, in my experience, have a very good telephone hotline...once you get through an hour of menu's.

I also found a lot of really helpful info on the AARP website.

The out of date prices isn't a surprise, I think it's easier sometimes to go with the info you have rather than trounce around looking at each and every place

Better to say 'such and such looked nice but more expensive' rather than go in and check. I haven't seen one of their books for years and years now though. One aspect that was very useful were their maps of each town

They'd write something nice about a small restaurant and you'd walk past and it'd be full of foreigners all eating in there. I always wondered about them getting money

Fast operators would always try to get advance notice of which restaurants and accommodations were about to be well reviewed in an oncoming issue and either buy them out or get control somehow and then milk the hoard of tourists who would follow. Now, with the plethora of websites providing up to date info, not so widespread.

I don't think LP charges for listings per se, but do charge for listing enhancement such as bolder type or maybe even page placement.

Considering publishing layout, printing and distribution lead time, most guidebooks are two years out of date the day they hit the shelves.

Money belts are quite tight and really can't hold a lot. When I was traveling in North Africa in the days before ATM's, I actually had a pocket sewn to the inside of my undershorts.

The cleverer you think you are being hiding something in your hotel room, the more likely it will be one of the first places an experienced hotel thief will look.

Whatever your friend does, and even if he is under the legal reporting limit, do not conceal the money in something like the shaving cream can you mentioned when going through airport security and customs. If not an outright offense, it will certainly be viewed as suspicious and perhaps lead to the very scrutiny your furtive friend is trying to avoid.

Thai frost occurs at 14 degrees?

Frost can occur well above freezing, especially in a small valley if the mist hovering just above starts to rapidly evaporate when early rays of sun hit it.

Evaporation is a cooling process and the supercooled air drops to ground level and can cause areas of frost.

Billd766's advice is the best and certainly worth trying.

You mention that it is an imported luxury vehicle..There has been a lot of press lately about a heavy government crackdown on such automobiles fraudulently imported and registered in Thailand. It may be that the seller is reluctant to submit the documentation because of the increased scrutiny by tax authorities.

I notice that there are several ANDROID apps on offer that claim to repel mosquitos...anybody ever tried any of them?

While on the topic, has anybody ever tried any of the "plug-in" anti-mosquito devices on sale at most supermarkets?

When I lived for a while in an old wooden Thai house in an Udon Thani moo ban, we always hung a mosquito net canopy over the bed and made sure it had no gaps. Pretty effective really...no blind swatting at that one that always seemed to buzz around your ear. Canopy nets probably wouldn't be a bad idea even in a Bangkok condo if mozzies are a problem at night. I believe there are some available already treated with repellant.

I shop at a neighborhood MAX VALUE and often notice Thai shoppers carefully reading the receipt before walking away...guess I should take the clue and be more vigilant.

I also like FOODLAND and buy my meats there but it does annoy me that when they weigh-up anything from the fresh meat case that it is always enclosed in at least two layers of plastic wrap. When decent meats are B60 to B90 per 100 grams, 20 or 30 grams extra adds up.

My GF just pointed out to me a story in the Thai Press today that reports the murder of a girl who worked in a Nana Soi 4 bar. Her body was found in a river in Kanchanabury.

According to the article, she went with a large, bald headed westerner to Kanchanabury in a taxi on November 6th.

Her body was stuffed into some kind of sack and weighed down with rocks.

There is a indistinct security camera picture of the suspected murderer taken at her bar published with the story as well.

Apparently, the police know his identity but have not yet found him.

Here is an uncrowded morning on top of Phu Chi Fa from a few years back. Believe me the crowds are huge some days. People hike up in the dark to wait for the sunrise.

Reminds me of the summit of Mt. Cadillac in Acadia National Park in Maine, supposedly the first land area in the United States to be touched by the morning sun.

Every day during tourist season, flocks of tourists drive or hike to the summit to be among the first to see the new days dawn. Being Maine; it is usually very windy and cold but the view over Frenchman's Bay is stunning.

Later, you drive to a little shack and get a couple of boiled lobsters and steamed clams.....Hmmmm!!!!!!

Sorry, forgot to mention; Pornphirun Place is very nice, vacancies scarce. 25 to 30 minute walk to BTS, Moto B30 Phone:02-711-2289

Depending on their occupancy, at times Contemp's owner will negotiate. If you are financially able, offer him the full rental term up front, he does like lump sums. I live nearby and have several friends who have stayed there. The swimming pool is very small...like 2 strokes a lap. It is a pretty good deal as almost everything (fridge, microwave, TV & cable, WiFi) are included in the price.

Contemps location, despite being very close to '71, is really very quiet. Moto taxi to BTS is B20, 15 to 20 minute walk. Many decent but inexpensive restaurants nearby including some with western selections. Supermarket close by as well.

As I recall, electricity is marked up to B7/unit. One friend ran his a/c pretty much 24/7 and his bill came to about B2000/mo.

Me Sawan 2, off Pridi 14 (take soi 1 off 14, then first left to end) has a recently renovated, decent sized pool and a fitness room. Nice studios so usually full but worth checking out.

There are a fair number of newly constructed apartment buildings in the side sois off Pridi 14 though most won't have pools. The downside with Pridi 14 is it is tough walking...narrow and congested with no sidewalks.

I believe there are several decent buildings with pools off Pridi 25.

There is an athletic club with a large pool off either Pridi 47 or 49 with daily use rates.

Just remembering how, during the 50's and 60's, punch cards tagged every aspect of our lives...and God forbid you should tear, staple or fold or allow to get wet. Every form you filled out was also a punch card and trying to write legibly around the punch holes was an art. Damage a punch card and your University class schedule evaporated, your health records gone and bills paid got posted to the wrong account.

One of my first jobs was in the "Tab" room of a major corporation, sorting and compiling tens of thousands of cards a day. The machines were old and read the cards mechanically, with pins, and would frequently jam, often mutilating a bunch of cards in the process. Trying to recreate those cards was a chore.

At the end of each day, we'd toss out a bin full of the tiny paper bits resulting from holes being punched. It wasn't until the notorious 2000 US Presidential election; wherein the result hung on the outcome of the Florida absentee vote tally that I learned that those little hole pieces had a name as "Hanging chad" forever became a part of the American political lexicon.

You can also call *777...AIS Customer Service. Their English speaking reps are pretty good and can block spam messages.