dave111223

Thanks for the answers, very helpful.

Does anyone know what you need to bring to the US embassy in order to get a verification of monthly income certificate?

The foreign earned income credit doesn't do much if you're self-employed. They still hit you with like 15% tax on your net income "Self-Employment Tax" (no credits appliable to that).

Getting nervous reading this post as i have my renewal coming up next month :\

Can he get a 90 type O visa instead of a 1 year? (I thought i remembered reading this somewhere or am i crazy?)

Caveat Emptor!

The last time Air Asia had a promotion on, their website did not work satisfactorily, and a booking we made that showed up as an error in the browser, actually went through. I even called to check with their staff 5 minutes later, in order to check that nothing had been charged from the credit card.

The member of staff claimed the booking had not gone through. Still, in the afternoon when checking the bank account, it turns out the booking HAD been made and charged from the credit card, contrary to what their staff member said.

That evening as well as the next day, I and my wife spent 5 (yes FIVE) hours on the phone with Air Asia, trying to get the booking cancelled, but even calm persistence did not get more than credits for booking flights within 90 days, and this after several hours and having escalated the issue to management; they refused to cancel the purchase due to their 'no refund' policy, despite the fact that the fault was theirs in that the website did not work as it should, and their staff member had given us incorrect information.

Be VERY careful.

Why did you make the booking if you didn't want to take the trip? Or am i reading it wrong.

You tried to book a flight, you saw an error but the booking did go through, but you didn't actually want to make the booking?

Why did you enter your CC# for a flight you never planned on taking?

Not excusing the website error, but story seems odd?

Amazing; how does he still have a job?

In Phuket, walking on the sidewalk and being pinched by giggling Thai women as I pass them, but that is not so bad.

These giggling Thai women are bargirls trying to lure you in as a customer.

You must be hanging out in some pretty dodgy areas to be getting felt up by other farang men.

Someone bumps into you do you assume they were trying to feel you up?

Money

anybody who buys property to live in and worries about the value is a poor man.

What a foolish statement

Mr. Abdul Aji said his association planned to invite representatives of private sector and government officials for talks on how to lure tourists from neighbouring countries to visit the deep South.

Maybe they should secure the situation before trying to lure unsuspecting tourists in?

It was also my first songkran, i have to admit all my preconceptions were wrong.

It was a great time. I rode around in the back of a pickup truck all day with my wifes family, throwing water all of the place.

The best part was that they sell these massive lumps of ice on the street so that you can get your water totally freezing before you dump a bucket over an unsuspecting passer by.

It seemed like EVERYONE was in on the action.

What most surpised me was the restraint that people seemed to have. Some things that i was sure would have (in my Western mindset):

- People throwing lumps of ice

- People throwing water into eletrical stuff and laughing as it blows up.

- People mixing some nasty stuff into their water

- People doing their best to cause as much expensive property damage as possible

- List goes on of all the thing i'm sure would have happened back home...

But yet none of these kind of things even looked close to happening. Everyone just seemed to be having a good time, and using a lot of common sense.

Maybe if you took a poll of the amount of blokes in Thailand who do infact have ex-bargirl wives then you'd understand the stereotype?

Or maybe it would prove the stereotype totally wrong! who knows.

I transfered money from Bank of American to here last year. They do, i feel, totally rip you off on the fee through. Cost be about $45 for 1 wire transfer!

Why is it that when a group of British people sail into Iranian waters they get arrested and locked up.

Yet when a group of Iranians sail into British waters they each get a free council house and 200 quid a week?

I agree the situation is totally ridiculous. But there is not much we can do...except for beat the sh*t out of any Iranian looking blokes at the pub (joking)

One could make the arguement that ripping off a hooker is no different than ripping off a drug dealer, they both are providing an illegal service. I dont think there would be nearly as much sympathy for the drug dealer if someone posted "I stole some crack from a dealer and punched his friend in the head".

I think the difference is that most prostitutes (especially in Thailand), are by no means well off and in a perfect world it would not be their profession of choice.

It is the fact of stealing from someone who is already in a situation 1000 times worse than your own that disturbs me.

I've been to Dreamworld a couple of times. I think it is pretty fun, especially the water rides. Back home i was never able to fully enjoy the water rides as when you get off, soaking wet, you freeze your ass off. Here the hot weather makes these kind of rides alot more enjoyable.

There is 1 ok rollercoaster, but most of the rides are the kind that just spin you around til you throw up.

There is also some kind of fun themed scenery to look at.

Recommend going with a Thai person and have them buy your ticket, as it is one of those places that charges foreigners like 2 times the price.

How much is the item worth?

Change your logo while you can, all it will take is 1 email to your host from ebay and your site will be gone.

I have TOT DSL (in Bangkok) and lately the speed is so unbelievable slow, it takes literally a minute or so to load any page.

I have the 256kbps, the wife and I went to the TOT office to upgrade to 1mbps but they warned us that speed may not actually be any faster, something about the lines being bad in our area (Ratchada) and they would check the line to see if our speed would be improved by an upgrade. I've yet to hear back.

A week or so ago the DSL was down completed for a couple of days, so i bought a dial up package, and to my shock it seemed like a T1 compared to my DSL.

When i do a speed test on a Thai speed test server i do get about 250kbps with my DSL, but to any speed tests in the US i get around 25kbps (surely this is not considered "acceptable"?) Even on the dial up to the US i get around 40kbps.

We tried signing up with True but they do not have any lines availabe in our area at the moment, so we have to get on a waiting list (i guess until someone in the area cancels)

But i am still concerns as to sign up for True it will cost me 2,000 baht to cancel TOT contract, and then 3,000 to get setup with True, plus signing a 1 year contract with them.

So it could cost me 3,000 + 2,000 + 1year of payments, and then find out that True sucks too.

Any ideas, advise?

Seems like my only option is to sit on the True waiting list and pray that they aren't as slow when i do get setup.

you should inject some kind of liquid laxative into the fruit.

This is perfect

Yes indeed.

Better yet put up some kind of shrine near the tree (as if you just found out someone once died from falling out of it). Then inject the laxtive, and if there are any people bold enough to brave the ghosts they surely will never be back after the ghosts punish their stomachs

Agreeing with the article, but I'm a bit puzzled about the huge number of students. Apparently, unless schools are literally falling down, there are more students than ever. Yet, according to the population experts at the UN, Thailand cut its birth rate in half from 1975 to 2000, and the current birth rate is probably below replacement rate. Shouldn't there be fewer students?

It could be that there are fewer kids, but more of them are actually going to school now.

I would vote for "Law and Order" by it is not on the list

It is not that all those people are "fleeing" after pressing the button. But i've pressed the button many times and waited like 10 minutes seeing people getting picked up further down the road, so just walk down to get a taxi there...

I ask my wife "During Songkran can i spray the garden hose off the balcony at people", she said "No".

Why is it that you can throw a bucket of water at someone who is riding a motorbike, possibly causing them to fall off and hurt themself, but you cannot spray water from a balcony using a garden hose?

The whole festival just seems like a good excuse for perverts to cop a feel, and thugs to get into a punch up...

There is no "the law" in ther US for slander/libel .... it varies by state

That's incorrect. There have been landmark Supreme Court rulings on this. As precedent setting, they are the law.

Wouldn't the statutes be consided "the law", and precedent be considered "case law" used to help interpret "the law". And if the statutes on slander/libel vary from state to state then wouldn't jdinasia be correct?

Then again i have only ever taken 1 semester of business law, so i am not exactly a legal expert