Bardeh

I did this, but the other way round, a couple of weeks ago. I sent mine from Phuket to Chiang Rai at the post office, and it cost me just over 3,000 baht. Arrived in less than a week, no issues at all. They didn't weigh mine, just had preset prices for certain models of bike.

If you need to ask, it's a scam.

I'm currently in a small village in rural Chiang Rai, and while I do enjoy Songkran, I just cannot get on board with all the drinking. I do like a drink, but in the evening when it's cooler. Here they start at around 9am, either Lao Kao or Lao Daeng, and most people are completely out of it by midday. I don't know how they do it day after day!

Many schools will allow you to start working before those documents are processed.

Shipping shouldn't cost too much from the US - however, I had heard that Amazon was all out of preorders for the Black Armour Edition. For me, I just preordered it on PSN. I won't have a disc I can lose, and I can start downloading it from midnight on release!

I got mixed up about this too. The card you use isn't the physical debit card you carry with you. On the online banking, there is a Web Shopping card. If you click onto that area of your online banking, it provides you the details of a 'virtual' card - use those details, and it should work fine.

I found this on Google Maps after trying to find a public pool that I'd be able to use. I'm assuming that this is open for anybody to use? Anyone been and knows how much it is / opening times?

The guy in the forefront of that picture - maybe I could believe he's 27 if I squint a bit. But that guy behind must be at least in his fourties.

I'm seeing reports of 2000 protesters surrounding the provincial hall in town. Anyone seen anything?

Mid November?! So that's potentially a week without access to some of these sites? Anyone got a recommendation for a cheap VPN in that case?

Well, some sites that weren't working this morning for me are connecting again all of a sudden. Amazon is still unavailable, but maybe this is a sign they're working on it?

Use 3BB in Hua Hin and noticed this morning that I can't access http://www.raspberrypi.org/ - maybe that this is blocked as well......

I don't think any of this has been deliberately blocked - the sites affected are too broad and varied. Someone has just screwed up somewhere.

3BB in Phuket, and I'm having the same problems. Amazon.com isn't loading, nor any of its sub-sites (affiliates program etc) which is a pain because I need to use them for work! Everything working as normal on my phone via 3G though. Hoping they get this fixed soon!

Its not strange at all - Phuket Immigration clearly targeting only non Asian foreigners so anyone looking like he was will instantly draw attention to himself.

Yes what about the 1000's of Burmese that are here, do they all have Visas! Remember what TAT says this is Amazing Thailand.

Of course they dont have visas or work permits etc- but this witch hunt is only after the Farang. They have decided that the western foreigner is the root of all Phukets problems.

Right now, yes it seems as if they're really cracking down on western foreigners who have overstayed. However, I've seen police stopping the big trucks full of burmese workers many times, usually up near the Heroine's Monument.

No there's no inherent advantage to be gained from killing women in the game. You can kill absolutely anybody you want in the game - as well as do many other things. The appeal of this sort of game is the big open world with many different things to do. Drive cars, planes, boats, bikes, play golf, tennis, rob stores, plan heists - the list goes on.

I went to that little games stall in Lotus Thalang yesterday, to have a look at his prices for Xboxes. He wanted 15,000 baht for a 4 gig model, which is just insane. Over double the RRP. Whenever I'm in there, he's sitting playing games, and I've never seen a single customer. At those prices I'm not surprised. How on earth does he make any money???

I've had a look through the Thai Visa Classifieds and Phuket Gazette but I can't see anything around Phuket. I'm looking for a second hand Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, I'm not fussed which. I don't need any games, extra controllers etc. - just the console and 1 controller. Looking to pay about 5k.

Alternatively, are there any places on the island that sell second-hand electronics I could go and have a browse at?

I lived here for six months, and was there when they finally arrested the man. He hid in one of the condos for days while the police waited outside, basically waiting for him to run out of food or water. When they finally burst in, he was apparently cowering in the toilet.

Our electric bills were quite ridiculous, but the power would get cut off at least once a month, sometimes for days at a stretch. When the owners and tenants finally decided to do something about it, their motorbikes seats were slashed, and acid was thrown on their cars. One British guy I talked to was beaten up for having the audacity to challenge Mr. Pornsawan - he owned his condo in the complex and paid his bills separately, but when the power was cut off, it would be for every apartment in the complex. Pornsawan was renting out rooms he didn't own, just hoping the real owners wouldn't come back and discover what was going on. I got out of there as soon as I could - the atmosphere was quite frightening at times, and I feel really sorry for anybody who actually owns one of these condos.

As I always tell everyone, just go to Mission. It's not as swanky, and the nurses might not be quite so pretty, but it's cheap, efficient and quick. I had to get the blood test for my new WP last week - 200 baht all in, and it took an hour to get the blood test results.

A friend was having some stomach pains, and she went to Bangkok Hospital over the weekend. She ended up with a bill of 4000 baht for a bloodtest, some antibiotics, and some pepto bismol.

EDIT: Also, it seems as if every time I've actually had a blood test for the work permit, and not just bought a signature from a dodgy doctor, they only seem to test for Syphilis, not the other five (?) diseases. Although I guess they'd be able to see if I had Elephantiasis....

i would like to enquire how long delivery time is from ordering to taking delivery of car.

It's been about 8 months. I'm not sure what that figure is like now though - I'd imagine not quite so long now that the government cashback scheme has finished.

Shouldn't you have asked for the freebies at the time of booking the car?

It's not 'booked' - I haven't actually paid anything or arranged the finance for the car yet. The salesperson just wanted a 3,000 baht retainer (which will be taken off the initial deposit) to get a place in the queue because the wait times for the car are so long. I thought it was a bit odd, but my wife seemed to think it was normal.

I've done some reading around and it seems like the Swift is popular enough that Suzuki aren't really giving anything away with it.

Thanks for the advice about the tire culicine - roughly how much do the spare tires go for?

My wife and I will hopefully be purchasing a new Suzuki Swift some time within the next month. We've had it 'on order' for a quite a while now - we paid a 3000 baht retainer, because the wait time for these cars seems to be pretty ridiculous. Anyway, does anyone have any tips about what to expect in terms of freebies? I don't think we're getting free insurance which is a bit of a bummer, but to be expected with how well the Swifts are selling, I guess. As for other stuff, is it just down to the individual salesperson?

I've never actually bought a new car before, here or back at home, so I'm not too sure what I can get away with.

Any advice appreciated!

Yeah, that PTT is the only one I can think of that's open 24 hours in that area. You'll see the pump attendants sleeping huddled under blankets after about 2am.

Oilinki, generally I agree with you about the middle-aged Chinese women, but in Amorn yesterday she just gave me a blank stare and said 'No hab' and that was pretty much the end of it. Wasn't impressed!