dddave

There is a nice studio apartment building called CONTEMPO on Pridi (Soi) 13 off Sukhumvit 71 in Phra Khanong, one stop past Ekkamai. The rooms are 30s/m, fully furnished including fridge, TV and microwave. There is also a small swimming pool and fitness room. When a friend of mine stayed there he paid B7000/pm on a 6 month commitment, 3 months would probably be in the B8000 range.

When you enter soi 13, take the very first left about 20 yards in and follow around the curve.

It is only 4 years old so good condition and clean. Don't forget that you will have to pay for your electricity so if you use AC, it can add 1 to 2 thousand a month.

BTW, wi-fi and cable TV are included in the rent.

There is also a complex just past the Thong Lo BTS station on the even soi side going towards Bearing. Many single rooms but probably closer to B10,000.

But for smartphones, of course you visit neither of these two places. Go to Siam then transfer and get to National Stadium to walk into MBK.

Actually, a lot of phone shops on the first and second levels of Fortune with a full range of selection and competitive prices, also tablets.

Computers and laptops on 3 and 4.

There is also an attached Tesco/Lotus that has an array of mobile phones at decent prices.

I have a difficult time trusting the shops at MBK, especially for higher end devices.

ON Sukhumvit itself, the 4th floor of Central World has several large phone shops and a Power Buy which often has very good prices.

Siam Paragon has the Power Mall within the Emporium that also has good promotions and a huge selection.

Don't believe for a minute that both Myanmar and Laos do not have strongly enforced animal control laws. There is probably more international pressure for cross border animal enforcement than human because of the concerns about animal borne viruses and diseases. You will be taking a big chance for a lot of problems, especially with a dog that young. Worse case scenario would be the dog could be seized and put into quarantine, not probable but possible and not worth the chance.

A kennel, even just for a few days is also not a good idea for a dog that young. My family lost a dog many years ago from a disease she almost certainly contracted while boarded in a kennel.

Taxi drivers all know Imperial Latphrao (& Big C) very well as it is an established landmark on Latphrao. You'll be fine. You can MRT it to Latphrao station and then take a taxi east along Latphrao.

Really no need for a taxi. There's a bus stop just outside the station and there are very frequent buses that go along Lat Phrao. Every bus passes and stops outside Big C. Just make sure you exit on the north side of Lat Phrao. The yellow, air-conditioned ones are the most comfortable. Number 8 to be avoided (crazy drivers, clapped out buses).

The #40 yellow air conditioned bus runs a very long route from near Bangkok Noi on the Thonbury side of the river, across...through Yaowarat (Chinatown), past MBK and along the length of Sukhumvit to Sukhumvit 71 in Phra Khanong. There it turns left onto Suk. 71 which becomes Soi Rhamkhamheng. It ends up near the BanKapi Mall, a short moto ride from the Imperial Lad Phroaw mall.

A taxi from the Mor Chit area will run about B80, from Asok about B120.

Just returned from a trip to Laos from Bangkok yesterday; not a visa run. Flew Air Asia to Udon Thani from DMK, B1250 inclusive, booked online a month in advance; a very aggravating and tricky website.

Van to Border/Nong Khai from the airport in Udon was B200 pp, about one hour.

Exiting Thailand was quick and easy, shuttle bus (B20) across bridge to Lao check point.

Somewhat confusing...go to the Immigration Booth on the left and knock on the little right hand window and wait patiently for them to hand you the forms. Fill them out and then go to the little left hand window and hand them in along with a visa photo and US$35 or B1500....unless, of course it is after 2pm at which time you are assessed an extra $1 or B100 "Overtime" charge.

Then round the corner of the building and wait near the window and eventually your passport will be handed back to you. You do not have to wait and pass through the Immigration booths after getting your passport,...just walk along the side of the building and present your passport at the next checkpoint.

Once you clear Immigration, there will be many van, tuk-tuk, and car drivers all willing to transport you to Vientiane. Your bargaining skills will ultimately determine the cost but figure around B200 per person. Depending on supply & demand, you may pay more or less. BTW, B100=25,000 KIP, the local currency.

I booked a room at the INNER CITY BOUTIQUE HOTEL right on the river near the night market in Vientiane on AGODA for about $22 and was very satisfied with the hotel...but my tastes are simple.

After traveling to Luang Prabang (Most spectacular bus ride ever) and staying 4 nights, returned to Vientiane (Bus broke down 3 times, 3 hours late) and crossed just before 10 PM into Thailand...much faster and less complicated leaving than entering but there is a B50 fee for some silly pass card. We stayed in Nong Khai and then flew back to DMK on NOK Air for about B1400 each, booked online a week in advance. Nok's website is much more agreeable to use than Air Asia's.

Using "CLASSIC SHELL" on a new, non-touch screen, Win-8, HP notebook as I type this. Works great with FIREFOX set as the default browser, giving me a Win-7 environment.

Computer shut down is still a senseless three step process and not apparent when you first use it. Click the "Windows" logo in the lower toolbar, then the "Power" icon, then select "Shut Down" from a long menu of options.

One other minor annoyance is I still get the right side "Charms" menu sometimes when I hover my cursor on the right side but it goes away easily.

Thanks all for the helpful suggestions. Google Authenticator looks like the best option at this point but I will give everything a try.

As an air courier, I travel...A LOT!! My destinations are often smaller airports without public Wi-Fi but I can usually find a public computer to log into my Gmail account.

Recently, Gmail has been aggressively locking me out of my account whenever I try to log in from a unknown foreign location using a public computer.

I later get an automatic Email from them saying "Someone" was trying to log onto my account from such & such a place and that access was denied because they didn't know who it was.

What is really annoying is that I am never given the chance to enter my password or given the pre-selected identity questions. There seems to be no way to bypass it and log on.

I've searched Gmail help files but can find nothing about it.

Has anybody found a workaround for this heavy handed security block?

TRUE recently replaced my router...then a week later had to replace the replacement...then two weeks after, had to replace the replacements replacement..

The first was a cheap "BILLION" so I wasn't surprised but the next was a ZYXEL which are supposed to be pretty decent. I suspect they stock a lot of refurbished units.

We'll see how the second ZYXEL does.

My Sister and her husband will be visiting me next month in Bangkok from Boston, Ma. They got return tickets, BOS-BKK on JAL for $944...flying on the 787. Even in high season, it seems JAL is having difficulty selling seats in the 787. Their fare was close to $500 below the next nearest competition.

I might encourage them to bring their own roll of duct tape.

It might help if you spelled Yangon correctly.

http://www.yangonair.com/

Thanks for the link. Spelling never my strong point.

If you live convienient to the MRT, you can also go to FORTUNE TOWER, directly above the Rama-9 station. Many shops on the 3rd and 4th level, right hand end of the building

Must be time for World Vision to replace their fleet of Land Cruisers. They are particularily known for parading highly overstated and unsubstantiated media bites such as this, feeding off of years of similar hysterical NGO propaganda that have only gained credibility through repitition.

When I lived in Udon Thani, I had a Thai neighbor who worked as a canvasser for World Vision. Six days a week, ten hours a day; all training and supervisory sessions on her day off...B4000/Mo., yet when the WV sen yai's came to town, they would always stay at the Grand Chaeronsri Hotel in Udon...only the best for them.

Does anybody know the official website for Air Yangoon (or Yangoon Air)?? I keep getting look-alike websites that front for secondary ticket sellers when i do websearches. Difficult to know which is the genuine website.

Make sure you read the topic from a few months ago on the difficulties she will have exiting the Philippines unless you already have that covered.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/664645-thai-visa-for-my-filipino-girlfriend/

Somewhere deep in the thread, there is a post by a person who works for Philippine Immigration who explains the restrictions very well.

In the Northern Bus station, when you enter the main door, you will see a 7-11 INSIDE the terminal on your left. walk to your left there going towards the food area. Immediately on the right near the first set of doors is a small convenience shop and left baggage is to the right of that.

Not very well marked and very untidy.

The previous suggestion to see if your hotel has a baggage room is a better choice. Most hotels do.

Just landed 3 hours ago. EVA; LAX-TPE-BKK. This time I flew standard economy, last month did the same route Premium Econ.

Seating on the 777-200 was 3-3-3 so the seats were a bit more generous than those that use 3-4-3. The flight was full but there were an adequate number of very pleasant FA's who were Quite attentive. Beverage trays were brought around frequently during the trans-Pacific leg and snacks were laid out in the rear galley area. As said before...for Econ. the seats were reasonably comfortable with adaquate distance from the seat in front.

Premium Econ on EVA is definitely a cut above...2-3-2 seating near the front of the plane. Note that there is often no Premium Econ available on the TPE-BKK leg. The food I would say was pretty much the same for both. I will say that by economy standards...the food is not bad. I flew to the US this time on Delta and their food was far less appetizing. United is the worse for food...both quality and portion wise.

All in all, considering it was a completely full flight, it was about as comfortable as one can expect to get in that price range. IFE was OK, a decent selection of recent movies however regular flyers such as myself will soon run out of viewing options as they don't change the playlist very frequently.

Eva Air has a very flexible return policy. Used to be 6 months with a Economy Delux booking...not sure if still true but worth checking out.

Most hotels in Phnom Penh can arrange a Viet Nam visa in 24 hours. Usually a $5 service charge.

A good local silkscreener could probably scan banknotes and print panels of bills on plain cloth that a tailor could make into a suit. You might actually have to scan fake banknotes to avoid running afoul or laws regarding reproducing genuine banknotes.

A lot of aggravation for a laugh but not unprecedented.

Thanks for the suggestions, I do think I will choose a case carefully. My office is often hot so cooling is a priority. This is also why I am going to use an Intel chip. I think now the i5 4570 is the way to go. just a few baht more for 13% better performance.

I don't pretend to know too much about all this but I was reading a review of various processors a few weeks ago and that reviewer claimed that the i3 and i5 Intel processors had low threshold heat issues. It stood out to me because a friend who lives up country with no AC was considering a laptop with an i5. He'd had overheating problems in the past with a desktop using an AMD processor during hot season.

PRO-CORNER COMPUTER REPAIR on the 3rd level of FORTUNE TOWER (Rama-4 MRT) Same end of the building as Tesco-Lotus along the back wall.

The manager, NICK speaks excellent English and they are very reputable. When I brought a Gateway in tor a HD problem...he suggested first I go to Acer service and see if it was still under warranty..which it was. He didn't have to do that and could have just done the repair himself and charged me.

What a coincidence. That's where i had it done and then i saw your post!

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Were you satisfied with the service and price? I recommend Pro-Corner frequently and would appreciate feedback; especially if you had a poor experience.

It is actually an ancient Chinese house registration system going back 1000++ years. They were the first to have a true, functioning civil service and bureaucrats have to have figures and records. It was mostly a way to control populations and the movement of people. Even to this day, Chinese need an internal passport to travel from province to province and need official permission to change places of residence.

BIG-C often has good promotions on LENOVO laptops. Their build quality is among the best and there is a pretty good selection in the 10 to 15 K baht range. You won't get the fastest processors but you will find 4 Gigs of memory with 500G hard drives if you shop carefully.