Doug

As indicated by BrianInBangkok above, many Internet problems are caused by slow or overloaded Domain Name Servers here in Thailand. Switching to OpenDNS, or Google's new DNS, or DNS Advantage (which has a DNS in Hong Kong) vastly improves connections. It certainly cleared up my problems.

For DNS Advantage, set your DNS (in the TCP/IP properties) to

primary 156.154.70.1

secondary 156.154.71.1

I went there a couple of days ago, taking BTS to Mor Chit station, then taxi. I forget the exact taxi cost, but it was over 100 baht and under 150 baht. It was a very long way from Mor Chit / Chatuchak.

I used the maps and other info, including the picture of the slanted-side building, and had a Thai woman as guide. She had never been there, but reads Thai better than me and directed the driver. When we finally got there, I could see the slanted building quite a ways away, but the lady and driver insisted that the big building on Chaeng Wattana was the correct one. We went inside, and there were no English signs for Immigration, so I knew we were at the wrong building. We asked for directions, and were told to walk a hundred meters or so to the mouth of Soi 7, where two large shuttle buses were waiting. The buses are free.

Five minutes after we boarded the bus, it started moving and a few minutes later, pulled into the entrance of the slanted side building.

Inside, we found signs in English for Immigration, directing us to the second floor.

On that floor, though, it was difficult to find any signs at all. After wandering around a while, we found a photocopied sign taped to a column, and followed the arrow to the Immigration Department. There was no queue at all, as well as no numbered signs or any queue management mechanism.

The Immi lady served me immediately, I paid my fee, but there was a 15 or 20 minute wait as a total of 4 people handled the application and passport before it was handed back.

The building itself is huge and has many government departments. The bottom floor has several food courts, a Chesters greasy fried chicken outlet, several coffee shops, and a very long shopping mall with only half the shops occupied, but the ones that were included a toy store, a computer store, a flower shop, and an AIS company outlet (which sells GPRS/EDGE modems in USB-stick style).

According to the sales lady, that modem supports 3G, and it costs 4000 baht including a SIM and phone number and 6 months free Internet access. This would be ideal for someone living in a rural village with no land lines.

The taxi back from there to Sukhumvit Soi 4 was about 190 baht plus 55 baht toll on the Expressway; all was fine until the off-ramp to Sukhumvit, which was backed up and caused a 20 minute delay.

If you take a taxi there, you need to ask for Chaeng Wattana Soi 7, then look for the slanted side building.

How to get there by SkyTrain or Subway?

Bangkok Bank DOES charge the 150 baht fee.

They dinged me yesterday, and in Canada, my bank dinged me another 165 baht (Cdn$5), which is their normal fee for a foreign ATM withdrawal.

Although I swore I would never do it again, I made another visa run to Cambodia by bus. The one I use leaves from the coffee shop opposite Ekamai Bus Station at Sukhumvit Soi 31. It leaves at 9:30 AM, which is an OK time for me, and returns about 7PM the same day. It costs 2000 baht, and you need your passport (of course), 2 passport photos, plus a photocopy of the ID page of your passport.

It's one day, there and back by bus. It's a big tour bus, but no toilet, but they do play DVDs. It's 4.5 hours there, 1 hour at the border, 4.5 hours back, more or less depending on traffic.

It's hard on the bum. There is a toilet break half way both directions, and they feed you a free lunch. It costs 2000 baht which is about Cdn$72 currently. Half goes to the Cambodian government for a 30 day visa which is issued and then immediately cancelled. The bad news is that this visa takes up a whole page in your passport, it's not just a stamp.

Coming back into Thailand, they give you only a 14 day visa (actually, it's not a "visa", it's a "permission to stay"). It used to be 30 days and an unlimited number of entries; now it's 14 days and a max of 3 entries. While Thailand desperately needs tourists and the Tourist Association of Thailand is advertising worldwide, the Immigration Dept is making it more difficult. It's the Thai way.

Cambodia is dirt poor, literally.

The village at the border has few paved roads. There are always a dozen or more children begging for money. One of the little girls that I gave some money to a couple of years ago, when she was 7, is now about 9, I think.

Two years ago, when I gave her about $1, and some other kids lesser amounts, they all ran over to the local shop and bought potato chips and gum and candy, so I don't give them money any more.

The kids go to school (I asked) but learn only passah khmen (Khmer), no Thai, no English, at least at that age. However, the kids understand and speak some Thai, which is what I use, and the 9 year old girl now understands and speaks some English, which she apparently taught herself in the few brief moments while trying to wheedle money out of the farangs. Poor, yes, stupid, no.

The kids call me "papa", which is the word they use for all old guys. The kids are downright cute, I can understand why people want to adopt them. I believe Angelina Jolie adopted a Cambodian boy after making Tomb Raider there.

Two years ago, when tanks rolled into Bangkok, the military closed all borders and people were stranded for a week. I was praying that would not happen again, and it didn't.

The worst part, other than the long sitting, and the often crappy movies, is the toilets at the highway rest stops (gasoline stations with an attached market), which are awful. First thing I do back in Bangkok is walk to the Landmark Hotel and use their toilet. Last night I also had dinner at the Landmark's Huntsman's Pub in the basement, something I rarely do because it charges Western prices. However, I needed real Western food, other than hamburgers and KFC, and so had an English meal: pork chop, baked potato, apple sauce, carrots and peas, and a Yorkshire pudding (not as good as my mother's, though). But the Coke Zero was 106 baht and the entire dinner cost 455 baht (an arm and a leg). I often eat from a street vendor for 40 baht, and did so tonight.

I hate this trip and each time vow never to do it again, but it's cheap, and I needed a delay until I get my new software product done. I have to leave Thailand again on the 26th.

Surprisingly, the day after the trip, I always suffer from "bus lag"; I am always exhausted, no energy, short attention span, sleep a lot.

Silkair is not singapore airlines 'DISCOUNT' arm. They are the regional carrier for singapore airlines. There is nothing DISCOUNT about it!

You're right, I stand corrected. From Silk Air's web site:

SilkAir’s positioning as a premium, short-to-medium haul regional carrier gives it a unique appeal amongst leisure and business travellers in Asia.

Too bad they offer such poor service on refunds, as I will never use them again.

Re: cheaper hotels

I stayed at the Woraburi in early December and paid 2250 baht a night. Last time I checked, about 3 weeks ago, that same hotel was charging 950 baht for the same room. There are several other hotels near there (can't remember their names) charging 700-900 baht. Near the Naree Massage place.

Re: Buying a flight on a cheap airline

My credit card was maxed due to this trip, couldn't do that. However, related to that, is that I booked a flight from Singapore to Phuket on Silk Air (Singapore Air's discount arm) on Dec 1 when Suvharnabhumi was blockaded. Then I discovered Singapore Air had a flight going to U-Tapao, and I was able to get on it. I tried cancelling the Silk Air flight, and this was extremely difficult. They have no counter at the Singapore airport and no call centre. I went through Immigration into the transit area, and set up my computer with the free WiFi and used Skype to call Silk Air. Busy. I pressed re-dial. Busy. I continued doing that for 30 minutes before I actually got through. Then the girl agreed to cancel the ticket but told me I could not get the money refunded to my credit card for at least 6 weeks. 9 weeks later, it still had not been posted, even though I had sent several queries. So that is the last time I will have anything to do with Silk Air.

Re: Problems with Singapore Embassy

Like I said, I have been there many times and never had any problems whatsoever, other than their being closed unexpectedly. So no reason to go to Penang or Vientiane or any other place. And I like the complete contrast of Singapore with Bangkok... it's refreshing to be back in civilization where most things work as expected... cars stop for pedestrians, you can drink the water, there is a dual sewer system, no overhead wires whatsoever, good sidewalks, etc. But it's too expensive for me to live there on my small pension.

I have made many visa runs to Singapore in the past, so many I have lost count, but it's over 10. Being a Canadian, I have never had a problem: no request to show sufficient money, no request for ongoing ticket. However, I have been frustrated on more than one occasion by the embassy being closed, in spite of diligent research on the web... they close for Christian holidays, Muslim holidays, Hindu holidays, Singapore national holidays, Thai national holidays, and if a goat wanders into the compound.

I was not expecting any problems this time, and knew that the 60-day tourist visa would be free. They have now set up a waiting area under a tent, just to the right of the embassy building, with picnic tables and enough space for 30 or more people to fill out their application forms. However, there were exactly 2 people there when I arrived, and 2 more when I left. It seems that people are not rushing to visit Thailand.

I filled out my form, took it to the same Muslim lady at the window; she has worked there for as long as I have been going there. I recognized her, and I am sure she recognized me.

This time she asked to see my onward ticket. I said I had an open e-ticket with Air Canada, but she said that was not good enough. She said, "Because the visa is free, we are now requiring a real ticket with a confirmed date." I offerred to pay the SGD$50 fee, but she said no, they can't do that.

I asked her what I should do, and she said just fly back and you will get 30 days at the airport.

So I did that, and got the 30 days with no hassle, but the abortive trip cost almost 18,000 baht... 2 nights in a hotel, return air fare, meals, taxis, etc.

A bit pricey for 30 days, after which I will have to do something similar. If the "free" visa scheme is still in effect then, I will just fly out of Thailand, and then come back on the next flight; I won't wait around in a hotel, nor visit the embassy.

I have done the bus ride to Cambodia many times, and did one two weeks ago; hard on the bum, and a total waste of a day, but it only costs 2000 baht. But you only get 15 days now, and can only do that 3 times; I won't be doing any more of those.

I live in the Sukhumvit Soi 4 area; the restaurants here are mostly empty every night and the hotels have dropped their rates by 50%. Seems the "free" visa deal is not having much effect, and imposing conditions on it makes it worse. On the one hand, the government desperately wants tourists; on the other hand, the Immigration Dept seems to be making it more and more difficult.

I am Canadian, age 62. My non-immigrant type B visa is expiring in 2 days (March 1) which is Sunday. Immi offices are closed Sunday.

I am here on my own, not sponsored by a company, Thai or otherwise. I searched this site and found that an extension can be granted for up to 1 year, but the paperwork requires things I cannot provide. There is no company sponsoring me.

Is it possible to get an extension, say 30 days, at Suan Plu without company paperwork?

Is the best option to leave the country and come back as a tourist?

I am not working per se here but I do spend a lot of time on the Internet and do make money that way. It is not taxed here nor in Canada.

I am currently in Tokyo, trying to get to BKK. I was able to book flights from here to Singapore to Phuket, arriving in Phuket at 5:10 PM on Dec 2.

What is the best way to get from Phuket at that time to Bangkok? Bus to Surat Thani then overnight sleeper to BKK? Boat from Phuket to BKK? Bus from Phuket to Bangkok? I'm 62 and don't fancy a 14 hour bus trip.

Any suggestions?

I am currently in Tokyo, trying to get to BKK. I was able to book flights from here to Singapore to Phuket, arriving in Phuket at 5:10 PM on Dec 2.

What is the best way to get from Phuket at that time to Bangkok? Bus to Surat Thani then overnight sleeper to BKK? Boat from Phuket to BKK? Bus from Phuket to Bangkok? I'm 62 and don't fancy a 14 hour bus trip.

Any suggestions?

I am in Tokyo at the moment with the opposite problem. I can get to Phuket and now need to get from Phuket to BKK.

I went to the Tokyo airport (Narita) and talked to ANA (Japanese airline) and Thai Airways. ANA is not flying at all into/out of Thailand.

Thai Airways IS flying OUT of U-Tapao and IN as well. In, they are booked beyond Dec 3. Out, they told me they were booked beyond Dec 3 as well. U-Tapao is a military airport and Thai Airways is the only airline that can use it.

I would try and get on Thai Airways list; you will probably have to go to their office. You won't be able to get through by phone or Internet.

Hi all, I'm the author of Speak Easy Thai. I'd like to clarify a few things.

First, there is no spoken English. All the Thai is spoken clearly and at a moderate speed, slightly slower than normal speech, by native speakers. There are more than 35000 words in the dictionary that is included, but only 5000 have images and sounds. Speak Easy Thai draws words by subject or other means from the dictionary, but the default case is to choose words with a picture and a sound file.

Somebody above didn't like the packaging. Well, too bad, what does the packaging have to do with the product?

I wrote Speak Easy Thai because I had difficulty remembering Thai vocabulary. Since the roots of the language are not European (Latin, Greek, Viking, etc.) there is nothing to hang your hat on, so to speak. I found that seeing a picture while hearing the word with the correct tone did it for me. I finished the software after 18 years of part-time effort, packaged it, and got it out into the market. Over 1000 people have now purchased the CD for 800 baht from Asia Books, B2S, and Kinokuniya; there have been zero returns and zero complaints.

Speak Easy Thai teaches vocabulary, but not grammar. There are no grammar lessons. A grammar book is included and, as pointed out above, this is also available on the web. It's included in Speak Easy Thai so it can be run on your computer WITHOUT being connected to the web.

Personally, I find this grammar book difficult because the phonetics (transliterations) are oriented towards British speakers, which I am not. However, it is filled with little hints about thousands of words, and this is where the value is.

In the Thai dictionary, I faithfully entered transliterations (phonetics) for about 2500 words, but then stopped, as I realised that they would be wrong for half the people using the software. Speak Easy Thai includes an option to display the phonetics if available, but I encourage people NOT to do this. It's much better to see the picture, see the Thai word, and hear the Thai word so your brain forms the links. When the phonetics are shown, your brain focuses on the English phonetics and ignores the Thai. Not good.

There are some cartoon scenarios drawn by an 18 year old girl, so they look childish. They teach vocabulary for specific situations, such as hotel room, restaurant, reading a map, etc. I have had many positive comments on the scenarios.

In 40 years of writing software, this is the only software that ever generated any feedback. Many, many people have sent e-mails and phoned to say "thank you".

I have had complaints that the download (which is well over 120 MB in size) is too complex, especially from people who don't know the meaning of "unzip", so in some cases I have temporarily taken over control of their computer using MSN Messenger and Request Remote Assistance to install the software; this only works with a broadband connection. In other cases, I have told them to order the CD which installs in 2 minutes with no download issues and no hassles.

Anyone else noticed that the forum is now all ads, and it's very hard to find any useful text?

Look at this, only 2 lines of text (red ellipse), the rest is all ads.

I never said you'd made it up, I was just kidding. Don't worry about it.

Well, now you've got me motivated. I'm a programmer, I love writing software. I am convinced the world needs this new software:

This actually happened a couple of mornings ago. I was woken up by a crow apparently giving the morning news, and as I listened I realised it bore a remarkable similarity to Thai. This is not made up.

Looks more like advertising to me.

Advertising? For what? Speak Easy Crow? I haven't written it yet. I do have Speak Easy Isaan Lao in development, though. Maybe when I finish it I should write a story about the language of water buffalos!

This morning, at dawn, I listened to the morning news delivered by a large, black crow in the tree next to my bedroom window. This crow has a very large vocabulary, and its language is tonal, like Thai. Although crows can make only one sound, which in English we transcribe as "caw", in fact it uses the same five tones as Thai.

The morning news lasted about ten minutes, with frequent pauses, which I took to be the pause between sentences or paragraphs. This crow used repetition and tones to create different words. Unlike Thai, which only duplicates a word to indicate a generic plural, the crow would issue as many as five identical caws quickly, then pause slightly. I took the five caws to be one word or phrase.

Thai uses five tones: low, middle, high, rising, and falling. The crow used the same tones. There was clearly a "caw?" and a "caw!", which were quite distinct from the other three caws: low caw, middle caw, and high caw.

As far as I could tell, the crow did not repeat itself during the ten minute news announcement. I could not hear any answering crow, so I took this as general broadcast news, as opposed to "hey, I'm looking for a mate!".

20 years ago, I lived on Phaholyothin Road, Soi 3, Bangkok. I often went into the pool, but I had to wait until sunset, as I have fair skin and burn easily. There was a large bird, perhaps a parrot or toucan, in a cage that was obviously too small, on the balcony of the apartment building next door.

All day, this bird sent out a single whistle, which I took to mean, "Is anyone there?"

One day, I repeated the whistle back to him. It was easy to reproduce and I did it accurately.

The bird immediately perked up, shifted around on its perch, sat up straight, turned its head around in both directions, and issued a different whistle which I had never heard before.

I duplicated that whistle, and the bird looked confused. It tilted its head, shifted around, then issued the second whistle again.

I repeated it.

The bird settled down, and went back to issuing the first whistle.

So what happened here?

Clearly, if the first whistle meant "Is anyone there?", the second whistle meant "I am here, who are you?" and it should have been followed by a third whistle, which I did not know.

This is similar to the "discovery protocol" used in computer communications, for example with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices. An initial signal, called "Attention" in computer-speak, is followed by an "Acknowledgement", and then a "Begin Transmission". This is also termed a "handshake".

When communicating with the parrot, the handshake failed as I did not provide the correct third whistle, and the bird realized that I was not another parrot.

Getting back to the crow, it did not do what the parrot did, that is, issue a single sound repeatedly. It was clearly speaking different sentences for a long period of time, ten minutes, without repeating itself, as far as I could tell.

In Australia, some crows in the Northern Territory have figured out how to eat cane toads, which have two poisonous sacs behind the head. Normally, anything that eats a cane toad dies. Because of this, cane toads have spread southwards and have now reached Sydney. But the crows near Darwin have figured out that if they flip the toad onto its back, they can eat the cane toad by going through the stomach.

Amazing birds, crows. I never realized before today that they spoke a version of Thai.

I have had 6 or 7 60-day tourist visas from the Singapore Embassy. Several times I tried for a 90-day one on business grounds and was refused each time. One time I said I was investigating the possibility of setting up a new business in Thailand, and wanted a 90 day visa to give me more time to investigate. The lady was polite, but said no, only 60 days, and to make sure I got a lawyer involved before I opened any business.

I never had any problem getting a 60-day tourist visa at Phnom Penh. But maybe being a Canadian had something to do with that. Granted, it took 3 days instead of 2 as at Singapore, and there were very long line-ups, but nobody said "boo"; no hard time at all. Get there early.

I'm a Canadian, and lived in Australia for 9 years. I found Aussies to be warm and friendly people, but their Immigration Department has some very strict rules. Although my wife and I are both computer consultants, and made over $1000 a day when on contract, we were never able to get residency. We owned a house worth $500,000, and had a small business doing consulting and selling some hardware. Our clients were the big banks, telecomms companies (AAPT and Optus), state government, etc.

Immigration told us to start a restaurant and hire 10 people as waiters and waitresses and maybe they would think about it.

The Australian Tax Office says all small businesses with 10 employees or less are essentially tax frauds and must declare corporate income as personal income. Corporate income gets taxed at a lower rate, I think it was 36%, compared to personal income, which rises to 48%. (Compare that to Canada, which says, "wow, another small business! Here's a lower tax rate: 25%.")

So it depends on the age of your Thai wife, as well as the family assets. Don't take anything for granted.

In our case, we said p*ss on it, closed our business, sold our house, and left.

I have a tent, big enough for two, if you need one!

I agree that this is a sad situation, and is not likely to improve without

1) driver training and proper testing of drivers

2) lots of TV ads telling people not to drive while drunk

3) improved roads with an overtaking lane going uphill so trucks can pull off to the side lane.

I have travelled a lot in Mexico, and exactly the same situation exists there.

It's a shame that Thailand has taken up the American practice of suing everyone for every imagined slight.

In Ontario, Canada, 40 years ago, the government was concerned about road deaths on Highway 401, which is the major highway between Toronto and Montreal. They painted white markings on the road and purchased 6 small single-engine planes to act as spotters for police in standard patrol cars. The pilots of the planes would watch for speeding cars, time them as they passed over the white markings, then radio the information to the police on the ground. They called this program "eye in the sky".

It was quite effective, partly because there were a lot more than 6 planes flying around. Since you can't read the plane markings from the ground if the plane is high enough, whenever someone saw a small plane, people assumed it was a police eye in the sky.

Seems to me this approach would work in the deep south as well. Put up half a dozen single engine planes with cameras, and publicise the fact that they are filming constantly, and that it will now be possible to backtrack those 2-on-a-motorbike killers to where they came from.