tycann

Some say it's CAT Telecom's lack of int'l bandwidth. Others blame individual ISPs for not leasing enough of said bandwidth. Others blame cable breakages in Taiwan or the Middle East.

Oh, and before you post the standard "if you don't like it, get the hel_l out" response, rest assured that I will do so as soon as my career permits.

Yes, I believe it would... of course if it's not modded you can't play any games you buy in Thailand.

Thanks for the extra info fellas! Samtam, I will stock up for Wednesday and Thursday based on your advice. Britmaveric, I know that there will be places to drink, as during the last ban I imbibed at O'reilley's on THaniya-- serving in coffee cups. But I have a very serious alcohol problem, and I basically get a panic attack if I don't have a bottle at home-- I average about 2 liters of whiskey a day. So going out to a 'speakeasy' that day won't be quite enough. Looks like I'm gonna have to lug a big load home from Tesco-Lotus!

I heard on another forum that there might be another couple of weekends of alcohol bans coming up... the first of which would be this coming weekend. Any truth to this? Anyone know the details? Sorry if this has already been answered-- I used the search function but didn't come up with anything. Thanks in advance.

This weekend, senate early voting on Sat & Sun, so expect no alcohol sales 6pm Fri - Sun night.

Next weekend senate election on Sun, so no alcohol sales 6 pm Sat to Sun night.

Whether you will get alcohol Sun night depends on location - some are apparently allowed to sell after voting closes, ie night, other jurisdictions do not even allow this.

Thanks for the reply, DavidS.

I heard on another forum that there might be another couple of weekends of alcohol bans coming up... the first of which would be this coming weekend. Any truth to this? Anyone know the details? Sorry if this has already been answered-- I used the search function but didn't come up with anything. Thanks in advance.

Goatees are for pretty-boys.

Real manliness is measured by the length and fullness of a one's beard. I'm like a Norse God.

I'm on Aman'Thul, Oceania with my main a level 63 paladin. When I started playing Wow in June of 2007 in Nagrand I had no issues with latency right up til a few months ago when I started seeing 26,000ms! These days its nerly impossible to play at anytime ecxept for a few hours like 3AM to 7AM! They god I don't have a job! The new server Blizz offerred for the free transfer has even worse latency for me.

I use Buddy Broadband btw which I had before I started playing WoW Do I get True? I am desperately searching for an internet room/game room that has fast internet. Playing with lag in Outland has been very painful though as a prot paladin when I dc and log back in I am still alive with full health and the mob is dead.

(When I was home for Xmas in the USA- east coast outside NYC- my latency on my neighbor's WiFi was like between 93ms - and 500ms but averaging like 250ms. So nice, I thought about relocating!

l

Yeah dude I'm in a similar situation-- I use Buddy too. It sucks so bad now! I used to play WoW about a year ago with few problems, and now even online poker is unplayable!!! My guess is that Buddy started out leasing so much bandwidth, and with relatively few subscribers it was great, now the number of subscribers has gone up like crazy with no additional bandwidth leased. I just started looking around for other options, cuz I simply can't stand Buddy anymore. I just started a thread about this a few days ago. I feel your pain, man... let me know if you switch and have any luck! I wouldn't mind getting back to WoW sometime.

Yeah it's pretty good. Not as big as Hat Sai Keaw, but nice. You can aways walk to the next beach up north (forget the name, the one with Samed Villa) which I think is very nice. It is a bit rocky, but I like the appearance of all the crags, so to each his own I guess.

I think it would be an awesome idea if you had money and arranged for visas. Otherwise it's pretty absurd. That being said, my friend hitchhiked from France to India (and I think SE Asia thereafter) in the 60's. Probably the single greatest experience you could have.

in Koh Samet I don't think there's any such place left.

I disagree. There is one extraordinary place left in Koh Samet, at the southernmost tip. It is owned exclusively by one resort, which is on the southernmost beach, and only a 30 second walk from the other side of the island with a nice pier and beautiful sunsets. It is in fact my favorite place in the entire world. The only drawback-- it's unbelievably expensive. Cheapest room is 15,000 baht/night, going up to 80,000 a night for a suite villa. See http://www.samedresorts.com/rate_pckg/paradee_rate.htm. Most expensive night of my life, but what the hel_l, you only get engaged once. Hopefully.

Hey all,

Any online gamers out there? Do you game with success?

This is yet another thread by a man at wit's end with his ISP. I use BuddyBB, on the laughable 1/512 plan, though thaivisa speed test gives me 75/20 at peak times. I have concluded that Buddy is not actually an ISP, but a hellspawn of Satan designed to incur wrath in all those who are tempted by it's cheap prices. I;m a pretty mellow guy, but Buddy makes me want to go on a killing spree.

I try to play online games, specifically online poker (play money, not real money, *Ahem*) I get disconnected all the time. On one new one I just downloaded, I get disconnected about every 30 seconds. I called Buddy's support line and, of course, it has been disconnected.

Similarly, my international browsing sucks now, which used to be Buddy's strong point. It is barely usable during peak times.

So, enough of a rant, any of you guys game online (specifically poker) with success? I can't afford some insane business or sme connection, but I really shouldn't need one since people other places in the world seem to be able to play with dial up. I am aware that all the ISPs pretty much blow in Thailand, but there's gotta be something I can do! I'm willing to stop just short of taking the president of CAT hostage.

I just applied for change of visa status from Visa Exemption to Non-Imm ED. It was quick and easy (provided you have the correct documents/letter) and did it on the 2nd floor of immigration BKK.

what school? what course?

bkkguy

MA at a gov. university. I don't know if that makes a difference.

All you need to do is to get an official letter from your school, signed by the rector or whatever, requesting change of visa status from Tourist Visa Exemption to Non-immigrant ED. Take it to the 2nd floor of Immigration on Suan Plu to the change-of-status office. No need to even wait in those long lines on the first floor! Make sure you have 21 days remaining in the country though. They might be nice and let you do it with less, but you'd have to do a visa run if you have significantly fewer days left.

I changed status about a year-and-a-half ago, so of course rule changes may have occurred, as seems to often be the case with immigration.

I've never reported and never will. Absolutely no need. I know a dude who has been here 17 years and has never reported. They always give me re-entry permits, visa extensions, etc without any problems.

Good luck. Your 17 year friend can not be fined more than about 5,000 plus 1,241,800 baht currently - going up not more than 200 baht per day.

Section 76 : Any alien, alien, who fails to comply with the provisions of Section 37(2),(3),(4)or(5) shall be

punished with a fine not exceeding 5,000 Baht and with and additional fine not exceeding 200 Baht for

each day which passes until the law is complied with.

Doubt it would go that far. Another dude I knew never reported for 6 years, as he never knew about it. He went to report, 2000 baht fine.

I've never reported and never will. Absolutely no need. I know a dude who has been here 17 years and has never reported. They always give me re-entry permits, visa extensions, etc without any problems.

I don't think you need to leave the country for this. I didn't. I just applied for change of visa status from Visa Exemption to Non-Imm ED. It was quick and easy (provided you have the correct documents/letter) and did it on the 2nd floor of immigration BKK. You do need 21 days remaining on your present visa to apply for change of status though.

A while back everybody was debating the best burger in BKK... well I think I've finally found it.

It's called Garage Burger and is located on the 7th floor of Central World (the big one near Siam), tucked away in a rather obscure alcove next to the fondue restaurant.

I've been to almost all the places discussed in the previous Best Burger thread and this one takes the cake. Thick, juicy, cooked to perfection. Cheesburger set at 210 baht.

Burger sets come with very good chips and excellent cole slaw. Also w/ lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and carrots on the side you can add to taste.

Other pros--

-FREE tortilla chips and salsa and popcorn at every table

-outdoor balcony with nice view and bar

-buy 2 get one free draught Singha (90B/1)

-free refills on soft drinks

-wifi

-Playstation 2 is listed on the sign but I didn't see it

I am in no way affiliated with this establishment, but want to promote it because it didn't seem like it's doing that well, and I want to continue to go there for a long time. Must be b/c it's location sucks-- as mentioned above it is hidden away on the 7th floor and has absolutely no foot traffic in front of it.

Chinese Park on Wat Prok Street (near Sathorn Pier)-- outdoor.

Lol, why would I. I don't have to prove anything. Go ahead and do your thing and I do mine

I do things not much different than explained on the website I mentioned ( http://internet-starter-guide.com )

If you make money online your approach will be always the same.

1. Find a demand for information (niche)

2. Fill this demand

3. Spread the word, Get visitors

4. Monetize the site with your own products, affiliates and ads

Everything in between are just technical things that are no big deal anymore today. To set up a website is super easy thanks to content management systems like wordpress or drupal that are easy to learn and install. What you have to bring to the table to make money is: A good idea, the time to research if it makes sense to make a website about it, the time to write about it and help people.

Look at thaivisa.com which does this in a very nice way. They started to provide information about Visas for Thailand. The demand was so high that they could establish a community for expats. Now they branch out in all areas relevant to expat lifestyle. The cool thing about thaivisa.com is they really care. The idea with the pdf calender and all that, this is great and the way to build loyal followers. Whoever owns this site will of course make decent money with it but also cares about the people here so this is a site that will last no doubt.

I have the sneaking suspicion that Freitag1 owns internet-starter-guide.com.

Just found this:

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/0...oesnt-work.html

Read the 2nd section-- seems like the clinical trial of Serc was a bust. Too bad.

Why shouldn't Thailand pass a tax on wearing puffy directing pants? Or for not wearing puffy directing pants?

I'm sure Thailand will treat Olly in the same manner as Springfield treated it's Hollywood visitors.

Tycann, your honesty is admirable and may help others. AA has many meetings in Thailand. Info at www.aathailand.org or pm me.

Thanx.

O'Reilly's on Silom and Thaniya is serving today. I had a fight with/breakdown in front of the staff there and have not been back since, but I think I'll have to go in disguise today.

I have been reading this thread and thus far resisted commenting, but I can't help it anymore. All those people saying "Oh, if you can't take a weekend off of drinking then you're an alcoholic", as if this is an accusation. Alcoholism is a serious disease. I am an alcoholic. The nay-sayers on this board will say "get some help, then." I have gotten help. This is something I've struggled with all my adult life. I've had long stretches of sobriety, battling my own demons, going to doctors, rehab, AA. I am now, however, not sober. I just returned to the country 2 days ago and was not aware of the upcoming ban, and was thrown into a state of crisis when I learned of it after six last night. I went to 5 local stores and a heap of bars but no one would sell to me. Fortunately, I had a half a bottle of whiskey left, but this is not enough to allow me to sleep. I drank my wife's Japanese cooking sake and a large bottle of mouthwash. I keep making typos because my hands are shaking. I'm not asking for your pity, I'm simply saying that this ban is indeed "screwing with people's lives."

Most will agree that alcoholism is a disease, but not extend the same sympathies to alcoholics as those with other diseases, for the reason that poor life choices often lead to one's alcoholism. I concede this point, but what about other such diseases? Some people with adult onset diabetes got it from poor eating habits and addiction to food. Some people with HIV made poor decisions about sexual partners and use of protection. Just because someone has made less than stellar life choices is no reason to deride them or unexpectedly deny them their lifeblood. For the next election, why don't we ban insulin or ARVs (AIDS drugs)? Will some of the posters making insensitive comments about alcoholism use the same reasoning if this occurs? If insulin is banned, will you say, "Hey buddy you shouldn't have pigged out your entire life, you fat-ass?" Of course, alcohol is not appropriate treatment for alcoholism, but 'drying out' unexpectedly can have serious adverse physical and mental consequences.

There is a thread on this in the Visa sub-forum but seemed to be an inappropriate place.

Question is for anyone familiar with the casinos in Cambodia. Is there any one that offers Texas Hold'em? Or just Pai Gow and Caribbean stud?

This question was asked and answered before.

No Texas Hold'Em. Not even Pai Gow. Caribbean Stud, maybe.

Thanks for reply. Actually, there are Pai Gow tables at several of them, according to worldcasinodirectory.com

There is a thread on this in the Visa sub-forum but seemed to be an inappropriate place.

Question is for anyone familiar with the casinos in Cambodia. Is there any one that offers Texas Hold'em? Or just Pai Gow and Caribbean stud?

Weird that you just asked this question, it's exactly what I've been trying to find out tonight! From my googling it doesn't seem good, as one poster said, I've only seen references to Pai Gow and Caribbean stud. Haven't found any links to the major Poipet casinos yet, hopefully I will and find a list of games.

If you do get to the casinos, tell me if you find hold'em.

PM-ing you now with a topic that would get this thread closed.