dddave

First class is a poor option if you are traveling alone as you may find as I did, an unexpected roommate entering the compartment sometime in the middle of the night who then decides to smoke, drink beer and talk on his phone for the next three hours. The compartment is only all yours if you purchase both berths.

2nd class is surprisingly comfortable if you book well in advance so you have a lower berth.

I have traveled extensively around Thailand by bus and while it certainly does have it's challenges, it is a great way to see the real Thailand.

Yes: there have been some horrific bus accidents in Thailand...as there have been in almost every country in the world, including the USA. As somebody else pointed out, there are literally thousands of bus trips in Thailand every day that don't crash.

Do a "Google" ""bus travel thailand"" and you will find many articles on the first page that will be helpful.

One of the bigger challenges is actually finding first: the correct bus station for the destination you want and then finding the correct ticket window for the route. Many larger cities have several bus stations for different destinations; Bangkok has three and just getting to some of them is more difficult than it should be.

In Thai bus stations, each destination will have it's own ticket window and frequently, they are only labeled in Thai. Bus stations are swarming with touts who will grab you and drag you to a window where you will be charged nearly double the actual fare, a portion of which will go to the tout...Even security guards are in on the scam so there is nobody really safe to ask questions of. The best thing to do is have somebody at your hotel write the destination for you on a piece of paper and you look for those characters on a window sign.

The pages you'll find on Google will explain the bus class system better than I can.

TD Bank does not pass along the fees as long as a minimum balance of $2500.00 is maintained in the account.

According to a news report I saw, the N. Koreans flooded the world with $100 notes that were so good even Treasury agents have a hard time spotting them. The US Treasury is now trying to destroy that series as fast as they can bring them in.

Only crisp new $100 notes should ever be brought overseas.

Well that's good enough for me, V972 seems the best choice. But I need to get a new desktop now; so my current tablet, which I have no cause to complain about (Nova 7 Flame) will have to survive the demands of my household by itself for then next few months.

I was at Fortune yesterday and was impressed with some of the "All-in-One" desktop units on display; nice big screen for viewing media and no tower to mess around with. Some of the Acers started at about B12,000.

I was in NY last week, current prices are still:

Nexus 7 16 GB WIFI: 199USD

Nexus 7 32 GB WIFI: 249USD

Nexus 7 32 GB HSDPA+ (3G): 299USD

Plus 8.875% sales tax (assumes NYC).

Shipments from the Play Store also include any applicable state and local sales tax. Not sure if they charge for standard shipping on top of that.

Staples also have the N7/16 GB WiFI only for $199 and the N7/32 GB/WiFI only for $249; and the N10/32 GB for $499. I go back to the metro-Boston area every 60 days so can head up to Salem or Nashua, (tax free) NH where these are Staples, Best Buy and Apple stores. I'm bringing back an N7/16 GB WiFI only and an iPad 4 (16 GB/WiFi only) on a brief trip back this week.

Didn't know you were a Boston native...Reading & Brookline myself though I only get back once a year. While you are looking would you check the local price of the Nexus-4 mobile phone..unlocked since it would be used here in Thailand.

Another foot of snow there today; I miss the eerie quiet just after a heavy snowfall but not the slush two days later.

Thanks: David

Yea, some websites say 8000mah and some say 6300mah.

And then you have web sites in their Q&A section like www.onda-tablet.com that says 8000mah is correct...see below.

And when you look at the official Onda.cn website under the V972 specs/firmware area they don't even list the battery specs...list all kinds of other specs but I didn't see any battery specs.

Me thinks after some more googling the V972 does indeed come with a 8000mah battery versus 6300mah like shown at some sites. In the following links a person opened up a V972 to find two 4000ma SGR291 batteries installed (two combined in parallel gives the 8000mah) and another person googled the battery specs. Link1 Link2

I would guess that ONDA and other similar companies; virtually unknown less than a year ago now have a tiger by the tail and are stretched beyond their limits both in management and production. These places are not Foxcom. From the videos I've seen on You Tube of tablet production lines, many are not much more than shophouse affairs. These manufacturers have probably had to deal with a ten fold increase in demand over the past 6 months alone.

Production of assemblies and final assembly are probably sub-contracted all over the place. Parts supply to these sub-contractors is probably quite fragmented as well so it's easy to imagine that one sub-contractor might get one type of battery directly from a supplier while another sub-contractor producing the same model might get a different battery from a different supplier. Those who do the final packaging and labeling probably don't have a clue as to which is what.

As a consumer there is probably little you can do other than view the settings and try out as many processes as you can before laying the money down.

I returned from Hong Kong about noontime this past Friday. The density of people in the main corridor from the arrivals gate indicated that several flights had arrived concurrently and the line at immigration was several loops long.

The Thai line attendants managed the line quite efficiently and I was stamped through within about 20 minutes, certainly a reasonable wait.

Siamsmile.org is a good place

Thanks Vinny...Exactly what I was looking for!

Cathay Pacific-OneWorld Alliance which includes American Airlines has some RTW and "Open Jaw" plans; worth checking out.

Unfortunately, the company I used for my RTW 10 years ago (AirBrokers Int) is now out of business but it was a great way to go. I had up to a year to complete the journey and could change flights with no penalty as long as I didn't backtrack. I was able to do 8 cities for less that $1000. The downside was it was all on China Air and Air India.

There might still be some companies in the business; I think one is called AirTreks...worth Googling "RoundTheWorld".

I picked up a Sandisk MP3 player as a b-day gift for my GF. I'd like to load a bunch of traditional Thai music, mostly Mor Lam onto it before giving it to her.

Any suggestions for websites where I can legally download such music, free if that is available?

I don't know if this applies to individual condos, but there is a Thai banking regulation that requires banks to recover at least 75% of defaulted loan value. This law was discussed frequently during the early 2000's when Bangkok's skyline was defined by unfinished "Ghost Buildings" left over from the '97 crash. The law made it difficult for lenders to unload the buildings and clear their books but also served to prevent fraudulent rollovers.

During the last month I have had intermittent difficulties accessing the NYT here in Bangkok through my online subscription. I would get server difficulty notices frequently when I tried to link to stories.

Thought those problems have seemed to have gone away, I still get a notice every time I open a page saying my "Free Trial" is used up even though I am a paying subscriber. I have to click through "Log-In" each time I open a new page;...really annoying.

I have no idea if subscriber services were affected by the hack but it would be a strange co-incidence.

And I have to add that even the most cursory of Google searches would have revealed the issue as it is frequently discussed and well known. It certainly is well known among Philippinas. I find the girlfriends denial of knowledge suspicious.

Regarding copies of your passport and other important documents, scan a copy and send it to your own email; then you will always have a copy available. If you plan to party a lot, you really don't need to bring a lot of valuables. A decent but reasonably priced smartphone that connects to wi-fi and has a camera should be all the tech you need.

Don't be paranoid but be wary of anybody who tries to be your friend too quickly. I have made lifetime friends on trips but I have also dodged my share of scam attempts.

As others have said, don't mess with drugs,...a lot of the "pot" sold casually is junk anyway. Also, be cautious with bars serving "bucket" drinks which are very popular at a lot of the beach areas. There have been a number of sad cases where young people have died from poisoning after drinking these. Some bars buy cheap "home brew" alcohol to mix into these concoctions and it can be deadly.

Finally; do a "Google" on "Thailand, jet ski scams"; enough said.

Have a great time!!! (oh...and do use condoms; don't ruin the trip of your lifetime bringing home a lifetime souvenir.)

Thanks for the suggestions but I think I'll just have to tough it out on the Govt bus to Loei.

Are you kidding?? From Fortune...equidistant??? Sai Tai Mai is WAY much farther than Mo Chit.

There is also a evening bus (VIP) from Mor Chit to Samui; somewhere between 6 & 7pm as I recall. About B900 including ferry.

Go to window #21. Sorry, I don't have the phone number or company name.

Craigslist-Thailand.

LAZADA has the Kindle4 on sale for B4399. I just purchased a mobile phone from them last week and it was delivered the next day by courier...no additional charge. I live in Bangkok

Thanks for replying Hansnl, I understand there are a wide selection of buses to Khon Kaen City however, Chum Phae is another 2+ hours west of the city, close to the Chaiyaphum border. Combining that with possible long layover times waiting for a connecting bus could add 4 or 5 hours to an already long trip. That is why I am asking about direct buses from Mo Chit that stop in Chum Phae.

I need to go to Chum Phare soon for a graduation. In the past I've taken the standard government bus to Muang Leoi which stops in Chum Phare but it's a slow and often crummy bus.

I've been told that there is a "VIP" 24 seat bus now on the route. Does anybody know the company name and more importantly; the window number at Mo Chit? The normal departure time would also be really helpful.

Finding accurate information at Mo Chit itself is a challenge with all the lying touts swarming the place. Even the security guards are on the game, dragging you to a window where they charge you double and give him a cut.

Yes, that should cover it.

Her main concern will be leaving the Phillipines. Phillipines immigration is reluctant to let young unmarried woman leave the country.

Very true. An acquaintance tried to bring a 25 year old Filippina he had met online to Bangkok. She was stopped at Philippine passport control and not allowed to board the flight. He was told he would have to the Philippine consulate in Bangkok and fulfill various requirements.

The last time I flew out of Clark I noticed them interviewing every Filippina passing thru passport control.

Last year, I bought an Aigo M802 which was the precursor of the M80 for my GF. It had an 8" screen and decent specs. She uses it primarily for email, music & video and a lot of games. It has been carried around a lot, used by kids and generally subjected to the normal abuses of an everyday tablet. So far, it has held up well. It was one of the early versions of Android 4.0 and I have never intentionally modified that though it may have upgraded it's own firmware along the way without my being aware. So far, it has continued to perform without any glitches and still seems as responsive as it was out of the box.

Sorry to read of your problems with the Onda V971. I've had a Onda Vi40 for about 8 months and it has been problem free.

Well I think for me the tablet story is finished.

If I want to buy a half decent tab i will have to travel to Bangkok, that means also travel 300km retour if there is a problem. The Onda costed me more in travel costs then the tab itself costed.

Here in Pattaya there is a Tuckom with 500 shops who all sell copy samsung and ipads.Not one who gets it in his had to sell something different from the 499 other shops.

Sriracha has also a Tuckom, and there you're able to buy copy Gpads. Yes you hear it right, copies from a Chines copy.

I could find Aigo today in Dtech shops, since Aigo Thailand is owned by Dtech, but they don't have the covers and who buys a tab without a cover.I did 3 shops between Sriracha and Pattaya.

8" covers are very rare, but I was able to find some shitty plastic ones that may last 2-3 weeks in Tuckom at 1100 Baht. No,thanks.

I could have bought the Aigo at one of those stalls on the floor in Panthip yesterday, but again that's a 300 km roundtrip if anything wrong, and I'm not gonna buy something from a stall that maybe or may not be there tomorrow.So I phoned Dtech Pattaya from there if they had stock, which they confirmed, but forgot to ask if they also had the covers.

It is clear that no Dtec shop has them as none of them was aware that they even existed.

I don't know about current models but the Aigo 802 had an optional leather style, very nicely fitting cover (stand style) with openings for all ports that has held up well. It was about B400 additional.

Last year, I bought an Aigo M802 which was the precursor of the M80 for my GF. It had an 8" screen and decent specs. She uses it primarily for email, music & video and a lot of games. It has been carried around a lot, used by kids and generally subjected to the normal abuses of an everyday tablet. So far, it has held up well. It was one of the early versions of Android 4.0 and I have never intentionally modified that though it may have upgraded it's own firmware along the way without my being aware. So far, it has continued to perform without any glitches and still seems as responsive as it was out of the box.

Sorry to read of your problems with the Onda V971. I've had a Onda Vi40 for about 8 months and it has been problem free.