nkg

Thanks for the advice. I will have a look for Tide next time I am in the South of Phuket.

Using the baby powder/liquid seems like a good idea. Would it be in the regular washing powder section or the babycare section of the supermarket?

Does anybody know where I could buy non-bio washing powder or washing liquid in Phuket? (Live near Patong but can travel)

My other half doesn't think the local supermarket sells it, unfortunately I can't decipher the Thai labels to see for myself.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

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One practical solution - buy her a copy of one of those singing games for the Playstation/Xbox that come with a microphone and measures how close your singing is to the actual notes.

I did this for a friend of mine who enjoyed singing (badly) - it was intended as a rather sly practical joke - but months later I saw her playing the game, and her singing had improved beyond recognition.

The computer presented her with irrefutable evidence of her lack of tonal skills - and since you can't lose face to a computer, she enjoyed the feedback and got much better. Plus, Thais love gifts!

Any black page can be used if designated for visas. But it sounds as if you need to obtain a new passport soon.

That is reassuring. For some reason I was worried that stamps were supposed to go in chronological order in a passport. And I felt a bit concerned that only the first and last pages haven't been used - as if maybe there was a reason for it that I wasn't familiar with.

So I shouldn't be worried for my next trip to Penang, I hope ......

Similar to a topic I posted a while back, but this time I think I may be out of luck.

I have a standard "32 page" UK passport - however the passport is filled with offical printed blurb for the first three pages. So the first 3 pages are not designed to be used for passport stamps. The last "stampable" page is page 28, pages 29-32 also contain blurb (plus my photo and details). The first stampable page is page 4, which was strangely left empty when I got my first Thai Visa (they used page 5)

The last time I went to Penang, the border official coming back into Thailand was kind enough to avoid using page 28 - he put my Thai entry stamp on page 14, where there was some remaining space. I hadn't seen that done before.

So I have an almost full passport, with the first and last pages completely empty. Can/will immigration use my empty page 4, even though it's right at the start of my passport? Or is there some rule I wasn't aware of stating that the first and last pages of passports cannot be used.

I would appreciate your advice.

Patong's Jungceylon has a "New Balance" shop that sells nothing but New Balance (at full price).

If money isn't a big consideration, probably your best chance of getting hold of "the real thing".

That NB shop is long gone nkg. I think one of the bigger sport shops at JC sells NB stuff though...

That's too bad - don't go to Jungceylon very often, and I'm no fan of shopping. I didn't actually buy any of the shoes from the New Balance store, I think I know the sports shop you mean though. I bought some NB trainers at the sports shop because they were on sale, 1800 baht I think, still in good working order a couple of years later (I'm no fan of jogging either ...).

Pictures of the latest tablet model have just been released:

i would say they get angry because you are being a pedant.

why you would feel the need to correct a random receptionist is beyond me. I would probably tell you to piss off if you started in with me while i was at work

friends and family generally appreciate it if the correction is offered in the right spirit.

besides, you should have taken the island getaway.

A hotel receptionist would usually have a degree if employed by a 4-5 star hotel, so I could understand her being sensitive about her English language skills. Implying that somebody can't do an essential part of their job (speak English) in front of their workmates would qualify as a serious loss of face.

If it was a 500 baht/night dive that you were booking into, then not so much - any English is a bonus, and the receptionist is probably a random family member.

Well, you got the smile right. I would have followed it up with "yes, the iron. Island and iron not same same", perhaps shaking my head and pretending to be confused. She was trying to be light-hearted and jokey, so keeping things on the same level might have helped.

When I hear a Thai friend badly mangle an English word, I'll usually find an excuse to say the same word when I reply, always with a smile and with the correct pronunciation.

I don't remember anyone ever being offended by me correcting their English pronunciation.

Patong's Jungceylon has a "New Balance" shop that sells nothing but New Balance (at full price).

If money isn't a big consideration, probably your best chance of getting hold of "the real thing".

The LIBOR rates, compiled from estimates by large banks of how much they believe they have to pay to borrow from each other, are used to determine interest rates on trillions of US dollars worth of contracts around the world. As of this moment, every regulator in the G8 has launched an investigation with Germany just announcing its intent. There are going to be a lot of banking execs tossed under the bus.

You make an excellent point. A lot of bankers should be going to prison for this - as with their previous errors, they are probably hoping that the issues involved are too complex for the general public to understand.

I'm not sure that there's enough public anger about this to bring about a much-needed banker cull, though. Politicians know that being nice to banks can pay for a very nice retirement .......

Europe can barely handle it, but Thailand can...?

Yep, Pigs Fly over the Brooklyn Bridge,

that I just sold her for blankets and trinkets.

Thailand didn't invest trillions in "AAA" dog crap mortgage bonds, or artificially ramp up their housing market for political purposes. Japan, China and the USA are Thailand's top 3 trading partners, in that order.

Meanwhile, all European investment projects in Thailand will continue uninterrupted. NOT ONE European investor might have second thoughts.

So let's all celebrate (and continue sticking our heads in the sand). As the euro zone crisis is going to more or less affect countries worldwide, Thailand is safe! If Mrs. PM says that, it is almost like a magic spell.

Investment money is leaving Europe, not arriving there. Wealthy people who have no desire to see their land and currency devalued have treated Asia as a safe haven in the last 4 years - and Thailand is one of the larger Asian economies.

The drop-off in tourism from Europe has been offset by ever-increasing tourists from China, Japan, Korea, Russia and India, amongst other countries.

So remarkably enough,Yingluck may be somewhere near the truth on this.

Costly and bureaucratic:

http://www.thaivisa.com/314.0.html

Try taking out a life insurance policy on yourself. Your girlfriend may reach the 10 million baht target sooner than you expect!

Just so we are clear about this - you paid for the evening, but did not get any action. There is a reason they bring a friend; the friend wants a free night out as well.

If you're talking about my recent date, I didn't spend a penny - she made me food at her house and gave me free booze. I was happy! Having said that, I'm sure the scenario you describe is common in Thailand.

Hang on!!! you tried asking you CURRENT girlfriend about going out on a date meeting another girl?

Wow, hard to believe that he did that. No one can be that boneheaded....or can they?

I'm glad somebody finds it hard to believe!

Was a silly post from me after a few beers - wanted to make the point that I thought asking Thaivisa was in fact a good idea. As proven by your helpful/entertaining posts!

Bit of history - not long after I got to Thailand, I became acquainted with a wealthy, beautiful Thai girl younger than me. After meeting her a few times, she offered to set me up on a date with her sister. Thinking I was being tested, I gracefully declined. Anyway, "wealthy beautiful Thai girl" turned out to have a husband she'd kept quiet about, and I missed out on the chance to meet up with her biological sister who was single and a stunner

So you can see why I didn't want to make a mess of things this time around.

The best way (in my opinion) to get from Bangkok to Vientiane is the following:

AirAsia BKK to Udon Thani 1350 Baht

Minibus from Udon Thai airport to Friendship Bridge (Laos border) 45 minutes, 200 baht

Taxi from Friendship Bridge to Vientiane 45 minutes, 200 baht.

Compare 1750 Baht (1 way) to the price of the flights direct to Vientiane. If you're mega-loaded and just don't care about money, flying direct may make sense, but it's a lot more expensive.

Also, nobody at the Friendship Bridge will be asking for proof of onward travel, since you're not in an airport.

Why would you ask for advise on a potentially life changing situation, from people who have no idea who you are, and you have no idea who they are ?

I tried asking my current girlfriend and our shared circle of friends about this, but everyone started getting mad with me. Now I wish I hadn't followed your advice

I'm pleasantly surprised with all the helpful advice that has been offered to me on this thread. Thanks

I will stick to the "being extremely friendly without actually flirting with them" approach, and pretend to be embarrassed if/when either of them make flirtatious remarks. I'm not expecting any smooching to occur on date number 1 with a "respectable Thai lady", and if we hit it off I'm sure there will be plenty more meetings to follow.

Now if you'll excuse me I'll go and get ready for dinner! Fingers crossed

It's normal for a ''nice'' lady to not be alone with male company as the neighbour hood will talk.

Yes, I thought that might be part of the reason for sister coming along. Previous dates with "nice girls" have included one of their friends.

I'm puzzled about her efforts to interest me in her sister (in a romantic way), but she does have a very quirky sense of humor. Maybe it helps introduce some "plausible deniability" to any interest she may have in me - "I just wanted you to meet my sister". Hum, trying to second-guess Thai women isn't easy ......

Thanks Pormax!

Knowing my luck, one of the two sisters will like me, I will misread the situation and flirt with the other one, causing both of them to dislike me ...

A girl I met at work (professional lady, decent salary) seems to have taken a liking to me. Pretty girl, same age as me, good sense of humor.

She handed in her notice a couple of weeks ago, so I don't really have to worry about the pitfalls of an "office romance".

I offered to sort out her CV for her in English, which she was very happy about. When I spoke to her today, she said that she wanted me to come over to her house on her day off for dinner (tomorrow) to thank me for my help.

I agreed to this, we chatted a little and then she mentioned that she would be bringing her sister along for dinner. She went on to talk about how I would like her sister, because she's taller, younger and more beautiful than her(!). She also talked about how she thought we (her, not her sister) could be good friends for each other.

So I'm wondering what might be going on here.

Possibly sister is attending as a "chaperone" to make sure that nothing untoward happens. It seems most likely that my Thai friend is interested in some kind of relationship, but what kind I don't know. In the West, girls talking a lot about "being friends" might well signal the end of any romantic possibilities, but I don't know if it works the same way in Thailand.

Is she is really trying to set me up with her sister? If I turn up at dinner tomorrow and her sister is stunning, charming and flirtatious, what is the appropriate way to react? There seems to be a fine line between Thai girls being extremely friendly and flirtatious.

My natural instinct is to be friendly with both of them and hopefully keep things going with the girl I already know.

Any advice would be welcome.