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The economist told me that there is a certification process for duty free importation under AFTA that is currently "time consuming" and he had no idea when tarriff free imports would actually occur.

I think "duy free" doesn't mean a thing. There was something in the paper the other day about the goverment considering another tax to protect Thai brands and keep people from drinking too much. Anyone read it? There are plenty of loop-holes to get around political jargon.

I'm giving her parents bt300,000 sin sod ( she told me, I didn't have too, but she does so much for them, I thought that amount was fair)

As they say, "A sucker gets off the plane every hour". I recommend you do your research. I don't know any Thai middle class couples that paid more than B150,000. And, they got it back after the ceremony. Well, if you can toss away your savings to people who want nothing, please throw some over this way.

New neighbors upstairs. Everytime they move their chairs the whole ceiling shakes like an earthquake. They probably don't even know. Can't sleep. What are my options?

Buy some floor/chair pads at Home Pro and

1. Visit them in my best clothes, best smile, and my walking Thai dictionary. Explain the problem, hand them the pads, and offer to help.

2. Send the walking dictionary up ther alone so they can chat without unwelcome foreigners around.

3. Find the building maintenance engineer. Slip him 500 baht, hand him the pads and ask him to take care of it.

4. Move

Thanks in advance for the help.

It is so hard to answer that question. We really don't have enough information. It depends on the girl...where is she from? What does she like to do? Is she hi-so, low-so, how long have you known her? For a first date I never recommend anythng expensive or special. It is better to pick a coffe shop and decide after that if you want to continue. You can always hit a Starbucks at Central World or Paragon and decide after that if you want to keep going with this. There are plenty of things to walk around and see. That will get you passed the first day. After that, you can plan something more advanced.

Why can't you use gas ? Comes in a bottle.

Condo owners and building forbid it.

There are many counter top ovens in Thailand. I bought a Toshiba top of the line model which is a microwave combined. You will see it everywhere at any Central department store. About ~20,000 baht. In my opinion, it is a waste of money. Lots of programming capability that i never use. It also doesn't cook evenly around the plate. Buy something cheaper and smaller. It will do the job. You don't need fancy timers. As my mom used to say, "It's done when it looks done."

OK, this is not the U.S, this is Thailand. Your anser is none. Absolutely none. That is not the culture here. I am an American and I had a lot to learn once outside the U.S. The fact is that the tipping attitude of the U.S. is not continuous around the world and you need to get over it. Difficult, I know. But bringing the U.S greed and expectations here (or anywhere) is just bad. Simply bad. OK, enough of my ranting. If you want to be a tourist and throw your money around, that is up to you, but stop and think.

All,

Thank you so much for all the replies.. I will try and report back.

I just bought a new Acer netbook with XP Home. Everything works great, but there is no sound when using the internet. The website volume controls make no difference. Youtube, online radio, etc. No sound. The Volume Control Panel has all sliders up and shows normal.

If I use my external CD drive, DVDs, Mediaplayer, Skype, then the sound works great.

I don't know what to do. Could the sound card be defective, or is it a simple setup problem? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have a Thai driver's license but never carried it, since I do not drive. I was wondering if the Thai police would show any favoritism or preference if I presented to them my Thai license instead of my usual foreign drivers license (as a form of ID). There are so many stop and search police around Sukhumvit and lets not forget the police waiving down taxis, it got me thinking. I know one should carry their passport, but like most foreigners, I rarely do.

Is it better to act like an ignorant tourist, or act like a local in Thailand. I guess that is my point of the question. Any experiences?

One of the reasons that places such as the afroementioned soi 8 pub are popular (at least with the smokers) is that they are smoking bars. If they became non-smoking bars customer levels would drop.

There are plently of non-smoking non-girlie Western style pubs - Robin Hood, Black Swann, Bullies etc, but they don't have the same number of repeat customers as the smoking establishments.

In the ideal world everyone could just give up smoking. But the world is not ideal and many smokers can't or don't want to give up smoking in the pub.

It's easy. If you open the door to a pub and people are smoking inside, and you dislike smoking then find another pub.

I recall first coming to Bangkok and there was smoking everywhere, shopping malls, resturants, all bars. So Bangkok has made an effort with non-smoking in air-conditioned places, but there will still remain to be a tiny percentage of places where people can smoke inside. It is these places that seem to be the most popular. What the non-smokers fail to realize is that if they took a smoking pub and turned it into a non-smoking pub then most of the smoking regulars would find another pub, leaving them sitting alone in a quiet empty clean air environment with no (pun intended) atmoshpere wondering where it all went wrong.

I liked your post except for the fact that you seemed to imply that if a bar is a smoking bar, then it will be popular. That is just a dream. If this bar is popular, it is because there is no where else for the smokers to go. Non-smokers have many more options and this bar doesn't have the personality to pull in enough business without offering smoking. Many bars are doing just fine without it.

Once in the U.S the ATM shorted me $20US. For some reason I didn't want to hassle with it and there was no one around at the time of night. To my surprise, a week later the money was credited back to my account. Glad to see someone was paying attention.

Villa Market has a selection of croutons (for salad). You can grind them down or put them in a blender. Better mortage the house, though. They are quite expensive out here.

Simple answer. They are easy, and, they don't care about your 20yr age difference.

Come on, i don't see a whole lot of guys back in my home country drooling over dark skinned Asian girls. The guys are just not interested. In fact, I have only 1 friend in the U.S who will date an asian girl. So to say (most) farang's like tanned skin Thai girls is a misconception due to what is happening out here in Thailand.

That's my 2 cents.

You are doing a good thing.....

Hmmm.. that's debateble. I agree you have a great heart. Another option is to teach him how to find the money and help himself. My parents didn't have money to pay for me, but I managed to finish college and pay off all my student loans. My brother is now a board certified orthopedic surgeon. He paid for it himself through loans and grants. etc, etc. You get the point. Giving people free money is not always a good thing. I am so greatful I learned how to achieve my goals without free handouts.

Oh, and my Thai girlfriend just graduated last year with a law degree. She worked and got her own student loans. I am very proud, but she is more proud than I am. ... just a tought.

Look here for all the free wifi you can handle.

http://www.stickmanweekly.com/WiFi/Bangkok...nternetWiFi.htm

In my opinon a full month rent as deposit is not totally fair.

I'll be honest Guido but every apartment I've ever lived in here I've paid 2 or 3 months deposit.

I had a similar thing happen. I moved in for 1 week, then moved out. The traffice noise at night was unbelievable. The window was vibrating from the buses and taxi horns. I didn't notice in the daytime because of other noise and the room was not over the street. But the noise bounced off other buildings.

I moved out and the guy kept my deposit. 45k baht. You got off easy. I found a cheaper place and made my money back in 7 months. Best decision I ever made.

I am not familiar with the "unlimited rides" per month pass. However, I use regularly the 30day-30trip pass at 650baht. You can also buy a 30day-40 trip pass much cheaper than an unlimited pass. Why not give them the 40-trip pass? That would cover all trips in a 5-day work week.

I just noticed you are talking about MRTA. My comment was regarding BTS. My mistake.

I am not familiar with the "unlimited rides" per month pass. However, I use regularly the 30day-30trip pass at 650baht. You can also buy a 30day-40 trip pass much cheaper than an unlimited pass. Why not give them the 40-trip pass? That would cover all trips in a 5-day work week.

I've been here 4 years I do the same thing as you. I just don't trust confidential mail coming out to Thailand. However, I had to give up California as my tax base in order to save money on U.S taxes. Now the goverment has my Thailand address and they are sending some junk mail here. Nothing I can do about it. I prefer keeping a U.S. mailing address.

Two more real examples from friends I know quite well: Thai people. All university graduates.

He: Electronics engineer +50,000B month.

She: Customer service/ Marketing +20,000B month

Sinsod 100,000Baht money returned after wedding

He: Electronics Marketing Manager +65,000B month

She: Works for family business. Middle class

Sinsod: 150,000Baht money returned after wedding

ME: when and IF I get married...zero. I'm not Thai. Besides, I can get the wifee experience from a different girl any night I want , and its a lot cheaper to rent than own.

I live in Thailand and travel back to the U.S. twice a year. The only people that care are the airlines. Thai imigration have never asked. But I have traveled with a work permit. The airlines hassle me everytime. Even with the work permit and re-entery VISA. I don't have a "return ticket" and eventually win my case. But what a pain in the ^$%.

I've seen them everywhere in the Central department stores. Maybe Robinson. Can't remember exactly where, but I was wondering through Pratunam shopping mall (the big one diagonal from Central World) and saw a shop with loads of them. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd floor.

Landmark Hotel - never been there but saw the sign saying "Probably the Best Steak in Bangkok" haha

"..never been there" says it all. I've been there 2 times and the only thing that brings me back is the beautiful girls in their uniforms and someone else's credit card.

I would also suggest to consider offering a Sope or Gordita on the menu.... never seen them here as well. Great for lunch or dinner. Might be worth a test, anyway. You would need a supply of masa, in which case you could also offer tamales - something else I haven't seen here, other than the frozen section.

I have to agree with this. You need a niche. Something the other restaurants don't offer. Stand out and be unique. People will come because you have something they cannot get somewhere else.

I just got a space in Mahatun Plaza which is right at the Ploen Chit BTS stop. I will call it "La Monita Taqueria ". If you want to know about our news and updates, you can follow us @LaMonitaBkk on Twitter. Or add us in your FB at La Monita Taqueria Group

Anyways, I still need all your great comments to make us a great Taqueria you can count on!!

I personally welcome new Mexican restaurants in Bangkok. I agree that all the one's here are terrible. All of them. What I would give for some Taco Bell right now (not that they are authentic Mexican Food, but oh, so addicting).

However, I am concerned about your location. Mahatun Plaza just doesn't have the foreigners around to draw some good business. Mostly Thai office people around there. Office Thais aren't going to pay 200B-300B for lunch or even dinner. What that location needs is a Tem-IM. Low cost, no frills, Thai food. Come lunch or dinner, every Tem-IM has a line to get in.