Lex Talionis

When using my credit card in Thailand I am always asked whether I want to pay in US dollars or baht. Any advantages or disadvantages one way or the other?

He went to Thailand and was charged with killing woman.. he got home and tried to do same to me

• 07:00, 22 Jul 2016
• By Emma McMenamy , Alison O'Riordan

Thanks. Looks like I'm out of here tomorrow. Already booked my flight back to Cambodia. I've been in and out of Thailand for the past three years but this has been my first Songkran. You may say many things about it both negative and positive but there's one thing you have to admit. Being in the midst of hundreds of revelers – the full-on water fights, the pounding music, the zany costumes, the singing & wild dancing in the streets, the smiles and laughter all around – if that's not sanook well it's time to hang up them hip-hop high tops.

I was stamped in on March 19 but the second date on the stamp (exit by?) appears to be April 17. Can the visa be for less than the 30 days? Part of the stamp is missing so I cannot read what comes before the second date. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for dropping the teaser and leaving out all the best parts. I'd say more but it would be not at all pleasant.

Judging a country by one city... Hmmmm. Let me see.... Hmmmmm That's like judging Thailand by Pattaya, no? The armpit of SE Asia

Which is fine, as long as you're happy to stay on the rather narrow backpacker trail and have the exact same experience as everyone else.

Again, taken “out of context”, as usual, I was previously referring to foreign travelers having a readily available forum (e.g., back-packer hostels), through which they could share their individual travel experiences with other travelers, while (of course) enjoying contact with the local indigenous people. Is my point abundantly clear to you, now? Is the more to be nit-picked? Huh? Whew!

No soibiker is right. Your original post is pure gibberish. Particularly laughable is your characterizing it as a word to the wise. Word to the foolish more likely.

The backpacker tourist is going to give you a cartoon version of the country. Of infinite more value would be a native who has a good command of the English language. If you can find and befriend one of those you're golden.

Although both cities have a lot to offer, for "food, culture, and photography" I would give Hanoi a decided edge. Especially if you stay in the old city quarters. I was there last April with the pretty much the same goals in mind and found it a rich rewarding experience.

As far as anti-Americanism goes I found zero evidence of it both north and south. And I was there on the 40th anniversary of the country's reunification. The end of the American war. Quite the contrary I was continually approached on the street by friendly strangers wanting to talk with me, to have their picture taken with an American. Made lots of friends and acquaintances and was invited out many times.

Hanoi has much fresher air. I was in Saigon first and had developed a bad cough after only a few days. It's motorbike city down there with the crazy drivers driving up on the sidewalk and whizzing past you, missing you by inches. Best thing I did was hiring a Motodop (female)who took me everywhere for a few days. A local guide/translator and transportation rolled into one. Ate local foods and saw neighborhood cultures I never would have predicted.

The people were just absolutely wonderful. As an American this came as a shock. Enjoy. You're going to have a lot of fun.

Thank you all for the feedback. I stamped in last night & as ubonjoe said got a 30 day visa exempt entry . But that's ok as I only plan on staying a month. Then it's off to Cambodia where I will get my long term visa, using Phnom Penh this year as my base of operations.

It's good to be back in the tropics. The November winds in New York we're starting to blow bitter. Managed to make it out before the first snowstorm and that's the way I want to keep it always.

After spending some time in the States I am now returning to Thailand and arrive @ BKK on 10 Nov 2015.

I have a Non-Im O-A visa that was issued on 22 Oct 2014, with a use before date of 21 Oct 2015. I stamped in last year on 9 Dec 2014 and that stamp reads "admitted until 8 Dec 2015".

Does this mean that I can still use this visa when I enter? It seems so but I want to double check with someone who knows for sure (ubonjoe?)

Thanks all

My GF likes to keep a light on. A small one, like a night light. I have no problem with that. She definitely believes in ghosts, spirits, but that's common is SE Asia.

The psyops guys in Vietnam used to broadcast spook noises along the Ho Chi Minh trail after dark. Used to scare those working there, that if they died that far away from home (Hanoi) they'd be condemned to wander those hellish jungles for eternity. Don't know how much good any of it did, Impossible to measure.

On the other hand a nephew of mine, by all appearances, seems to be afraid of the light. Like a vampire he rises after dark. After cavorting with the children of the night (ah what music they make!), he then slinks off to his bed just before dawn.

Ducks love to gobble up millipedes, chooks will also have a go at them.

Going a bit off topic about Americans killing anything that flies, let me remined you about the passenger pigeon. Before the arrival of the European they existed in their billions. When they swarmed they blocked out the sun. Unfortunately they were easy to shoot and good eating. The last living specimen is said to have died in 1914.

History is full of extinct species that were "easy to shoot and good to eat." Americans have no special claim on it.

In regards to the passenger pigeon it looks like those damn Yankees are trying to bring em back via DNA cloning. What a world.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-dna-could-return-passenger-pigeons-to-the-sky/

To answer your question: yes it is easy for an Australian to start a business in Thailand. Making it work though? That's about a 1 in 1000 proposition.

Before jumping in though I'd make sure I had a sturdy shark cage.

to live in pattaya getting the blues would be calling it mild madness

have a look at how many frangs do the big jump to other places in asia

Or that other big jump off the balcony rail.

Having a massive déjà vu attack right now. I swear TVF is recycling old threads & stamping them with new dates. Anyone else convinced they've read this before ?

Didn't another shooting range suicide happen just last year? Or is it just déjà vu?

1. I entered the kingdom on Dec 9 and plan on traveling abroad starting on March 10th. I counted the days and unfortunately it adds up to 91. But the Thai immigration site says you can make the report up 14 days early or 7 days late. Does this mean I am OK to leave without reporting?

2. I have a multi entry Non-Im O-A. I know that if one is on a "long stay extension" they need to get a re-entry permit. Don't know exactly what that phrase "long stay extension" means. If I haven't yet reached 90 days in country, am I on it? Or maybe I'm on it the minute I was stamped in? A clarification on that would be greatly appreciated.

3. If I do need the re-entry permit, can I get it at Swampy on the day of my departure?

You can get a credit card sized, laminated copy of your passport, of course. Front side has pic of main page, back has visa. For those who have used the guy at Wave Place know that he has moved to Times Square on Sukhumvit.

Thanks to all who have given tips & advice above. I just finished a chat with StrongVPN and they have "reconfigured" my account & asked me to try it out with the different PPTP,L2TP & SSTP configs. I really only ever use the L2TP though. So far (for the first 10 mins) it seems to be working OK. Will keep this thread posted.

It's happening again today. Here's a recording of the problem. Keep your eye on the wifi signal bars where you'll see the exclamation points coming in as hits. These "hits" do not happen when VPN is not running. This is a PC running Windows 8 & the latest version of StrongVPN.

http://youtu.be/_qBhB6_URA0

(finally used YouTube. still cannot get TV's uploader to work with any of my MP4 videos. - Can anyone tell me how to embed a video here? So it appears as a playable object instead of a link?)

I've been trying to upload a video of the problem but am getting errors in both advanced and basic modes. Can someone give me a tip on what I may be doing wrong? It's a simple MP4 file of 72mb.

Sorry to swap horses in mid stream.

In my book Ayutthaya is a must see if you are into history, architecture, statuary or Buddhism. Some of the temples are breathtaking. If you do stop make sure to see the Summer Palace.

I've been noticing a problem with my VPN Service lately. I use StrongVPN and have TOT for wifi. Every time I activate the VPN I keep getting drop hits on my wifi which cause the VPN to disconnect (they appear as little exclamation points ! on the bars icon in the tray.) This happens every 15 seconds or so thus rendering the VPN service useless. Has just started happening in the last week. I'm wondering if anyone else is having the same problem? Paranoid man that I am, I'm developing a strong suspicion that maybe the Government has adopted this as a new method of defeating the VPN bypass of their censorship.

(And no, there are no chips embedded in my scalp - had them removed years ago )