Beachcomber

You have to go Krabi to get the boat to Phi Phi.

There is also a boat service from Phuket but don’t know how it is running at this time of year.

The boat from Koh Lanta to Phi Phi only runs in the high season.

Just noticed you are not arriving till late November so most of what I said will be obsolete. The weather will have improved and the tourist season swinging so that will give you more choices.

If you want to take a “round trip” you could go from Lanta to Phi Phi and onto Phuket all by boat staying some time in each place.

Hi

You can get a one year multiple entry non immigrant “O” visa from Penang. You need to have a copy of your marriage certificate.

If you get there early enough It’s a one day service and will cost 500Rm (5Ktb)

It’s a good idea to take the original marriage cert and copy of your wife’s ID just in case they want to look at them.

I got a marriage “O” just a few weeks ago no problem didn’t even have to show any finances. I always go to Parvez Book Store, on the left side at entrance to Swiss Hotel, for visa. They are good and tell you upfront what you need.

Good luck.

Hi

You can’t get a boat from Samui to Krabi (only via Singapore)

Your best bet is get boat/bus to Surat Thani (inclusive ticket) then get bus to Krabi. Depending which bus it’s only a few hours. There’s a local A/C bus on street corner very cheap leaves every half hour or so.

If you get minibus it will take you into Krabi. The local bus station is a little way outside town but the bus station has pick-up “taxis’ and tourist offices so you can decide what way to go.

Krabi is just a town not much going on especially now in the low season. You can go to Koh Lanta or Ao Nang by minibus. Lanta in the low season is dead, really nothing doing, even finding a place open is not easy. Ao Nang has a bit more possibility.

Can’t say much about Phi Phi since the Tsunami. I hear they are getting it back together, hope so as it was one of my favorite islands and would recommend anyone to visit it.

Phi Phi is only accessible by boat and this time of the year the seas can be a rough so they don’t always run. Something to keep in mind if you have to return for a departure date.

The weather round Krabi at this time is a bit depressing, lots of rain every day not beach walking or suntan weather. Phuket may be a better option, like a bigger Samui with lots of things to do whatever the weather.

Can’t help you with the suitcase. Most travel shops, hotels or guest houses will keep it for you, sometimes for free. It will be pretty safe.

Hope some of this helps.

.

oh for some more of the genius of

doddy

hancock

round the horne

the navy lark

dads army

are you being served

perrin

allo allo

bernard manning

morecombe and wise

i'm sorry i havent a clue

victor meldrew

fawlty towers

etc etc.

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Yes the oldies are the best.

Some of these gems are being aired on BBC Prime (UBC) and BBC Radio 7 which is available on - http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain .

I enjoy them

I used to think it was a trick the repair guys had to increase their business. Yes I’m cynical like that.

Everybody seems to have the same problems. I think It’s the poor quality tubes and tires. I got fed up one time and did get new tubes and tires, though it wasn’t really necessary, at a different shop from the usual, the time before the first punctures seemed to be longer than before but don’t think there was much in it.

As for debris on the road, that’s always a possibility, but I’m convinced it’s the poor quality product; I have checked several flat tires for nails or cuts but never yet found one. Also most people don’t bother to check the pressure very often and that doesn’t help.

Hi

Long time ago in a former life we had pigeon problems. We used strips of spikes as mention by “Darknight” The trick is to cover ALL the possible and sometimes impossible perching areas. If you only cover the place they are perching now they will just move along a bit.

Another trick we tried was the “Scary Eyes”. This we made ourselves, just a big “Smiley” face with large fierce eyes on A4 paper stuck on the inside patio windows. We did it on computer but easily made up from sticky paper.

Can’t say if the “Eyes” actually worked as we had the spikes at the same time and they certainly did.

You can make your own spiky things by hammering long thin nails through pieces of plywood and lay them on your AC while away. Don’t have the nails too far apart as the pidgins will just roost in between.

Goo Luck

Hi

I have been a “Tourist” in LOS for some time now and have always been under the impression that visa extensions are granted on a basis half the days of your current visa or extension.

This means that on 60 day visa you get 30 day extension, on your 30 extension you get 15 day extension and on that you can get a 7 day extension.

For myself I have always gone for the 60 day visa then the 30 day extension as being the most practical and cost effective for me.

I did at one time go for a 15 day extension on my 30 extension and had no problems at all. This was on Samui a couple of years ago.

I have found that immigration office attitudes do vary, so I guess that can make a difference. Samui was one of the easiest and friendliest I’ve used especially considering some of the yobs and deadbeats they get turning up there. Maybe It’s changed over the last couple of years – Hope Not.

OK! I’m not normally sentimental but having had a few beers and reading the previous posts I feel I need to comment.

One time in a previous life I was in “LOVE”. This was a gut wrenching physical thing that had never happened before or since. Needless to say it didn’t last and took me nearly 10 years to get over.

I know this sounds pathetic but no worries I lived with several girls, all great, and on a couple of occasions lived with two girls at a time. Great girls wonderful time but not the same as my “LOVE”

So to answer the original question NO you cannot be in "LOVE" with two women at the same time.

Its nice but not “LOVE”

Hi

I guess there are many mixed marriages on this site also many mixed kids.

My question is regarding when baby starts to talk. Baby Beach is just over one year old. I talk to her in English and everyone else talks to her in Thai. Mum, for my benefit talks a lot of English to her.

Baby Beach can string sounds together and she will look at you and say something really important but in “what language”

Anybody have experience with baby language. When do babies start to talk? Is it more difficult for them being expose to two languages?

Help!!!

Erm! Just my two cents worth. Thai people are not a “throw away society” (though one my be excused from thinking so when you see all the rubbish everywhere)

Some time ago on a notorious island the fighting buffalo of the owner of the bungalows where I had taken up residence was poisoned by a rival buffalo owner.

The owner of the poisoned buffalo, wishing to make the best of the situation wanted to sell the meat and also serve it up in the restaurant.

Luckily his wife who was a bit more savvy blocked the idea. So I believe.

Bon Apetite!

back to the  topic

yes.. methinks when  people  get used to it.. so  the sound  wont be annoyed anymore (and  one day u will get use to it)

BTW, in TH ,  Roosters 's voice  here in LOS ,it's so-called ALARM /clock  and it mean "early morning..wake up!!"

TH Roosters  = Eakkk ehhh eakkk eak  so if u  want to warn em,  dont speak as "Cock-a-doodle-doo " they wont understand  you

Bambi (hot chick!!)

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Erm! Miss Hot Chick (as long as you not rooster in disguise) If they are “Alarm Clock “how come they all seem to be living in different time zones?

I am a nice kind of guy perhaps if I learnt rooster Thai I could reason with them!

Would their owners object?

Where I am now they start up at about 4am well before any dawn in the LOS – have they got genes from somewhere else? Perhaps a roving rooster ancestor??

As for the other comments I agree LOS is a dam noisy place. Some time ago I took a longtail boat trip round a wetlands bird sanctuary near Songkhla and the boat had no silencer (muffler). We didn’t see many birds.

TIT

Thanks

Will follow the links and try my hand at creativity. Watch this space but please don’t hold your breath.

Spog – I’m sure with creative stimulation of the young ladies I could get very animated – will play with your imageready, but don’t tell Ms Beach.

Hi

This will not be of much interest to those living in condos or up-market estates in Bangkok, but for the rest of us who either by choice or circumstances live in rural area it may be.

Perhaps I should for the benefit of the more gentle members and some ex-colonials with translation challenges refer to roosters instead.

Now Thailand is a nation of chicken keepers, they are everywhere either for eating or “Chicken Boxing” or some “just for looking” but they are everywhere and they all have something to say.

I personally have nothing against chickens in fact I am quite fond of them, not only from KFC but as individual personalities. Yes, they are quite clever and I used to, in a former life, have one as a pet.

No, my concern is the roosters that do not see the bigger picture and crow at all hours of the day and night instead of at dawn like any self respecting rooster should.

Yet Thais don’t seem to hear them. I have been to friend’s house where a rooster would be crowing right under the deck where we were sitting and I could hardly hear any conversation for the noise. When I mentioned this my Thai host said “what chicken” This has happened many many times.

Roosters wake me up in the middle of the night, once one starts they all have to join in and it usually goes on for about an hour before they settle down again. In the morning Ms Beach says “what chickens”

I have had conversations with other Farangs about this and the general opinion is that the Thai people have a slightly different frequency range they hear and the crowing roosters don’t bother them so much.

Is it just me or are there other Farangs out there that get P***** off with all this rooster crowing that is noise polluting the environment?

Comments welcome.

On the side:- on Koh Phangan on the left side of road to Had Rin just outside of Thongsala is a BBQ chicken stall. If it is still there you can get a whole BBQ chicken for 150bt – it is the best – really – try it.

Cheers

Hi

Just out of curiosity is it a simple thing to animate an avatar?

I’m not an expert but know my way around basic computer stuff. I see several posters have created their own animated avatars so maybe it ain’t that difficult.

Any help and advice or even step by step instructions will be appreciated.

Thanks

If you are looking for an easy option go for the double or triple entry tourist visa. Either way with extensions at any immigration office you can stay in country for 6 months at a time.

Then go to any Thai overseas embassy (Penang) and start over again. You can do this about 5 times before they start to ask questions that gives you over two years as a tourist.

No money to show - no hassle - easy!

Update!

First thanks all for all suggestions. I have been “boxing” with computer for the last week trying to solve the problem. As mentioned earlier the problem seems to have started after I did a clean install on a new HDD. Before this I never had any problem with using Ghost.

Well the problem seems to have been fixed. I would like to take credit for the fix and pass on what I did to fix it as the fix may be useful to some one else in the same fix to fix in the future.

Unfortunately I don’t know which particular thing I did to solve the problem as by this time, instead if trying one solution at a time which was very time consuming, I just threw everything at it.

The problem “seems” to have been in the registry. I got hold of Norton System Works Utilities checked for all updates on the Net then ran anything to do with Disc and Windows clean-up, repair or doctoring.

Norton did pickup on a couple of registry errors that RegClean had missed so I’m guessing that was the problem as I did a back up and integrity check that was “Successful” and was recorded on the log.

Phew!

Serious reply.

I’ve seen window film for sale in some department stores including Tesco. It comes in rolls with various patterns. Don’t remember seeing plain dark shade.

I had a quick look at the instructions and it seems easy enough to apply, just like regular car window film. Soapy water and a squeegee.

I’m thinking of getting some to strengthen the glass front of a bookcase so baby Beach won’t crash through it.

Hope this is of some help to someone.

As others have said can confirm getting multiple entry one year Marriage “O” visa at Penang just a couple of weeks ago.

Only had to give copy of marriage cert (though I had taken original and copy of wife ID). No money or income to show – cost 500Rm (5000Tb)

Next day service – No problem.

Hi

Yea! Come to think of it the new hard drive is the only real main difference from before when the back-ups would work.

Think I shall have to have a look through my utilities collection and run any discscan and repair programs I can find.

Thanks for your help and if any one else would like to add some helpful hints it would still be appreciated.

Thank’s All.

Thanks HaHa for your reply. I have NTFS on both my drives and like you both my drives are partitioned giving me in effect 4 drives.

I only back up drive “C” and like you delete all unnecessary files and use Clean UP – RegClean - SpyBot – Ad-Aware – run disc Error Check and Defrag, AVG, MS anti-spyware and anything else that happens to be handy before back-up.

I don’t use any of the other Norton utilities you mentioned; maybe I should as it they may catch something that is being missed.

As I said in my original post the set-up is the same as before when I had no problem with back-up and restoring a Ghost image.

Instead of back-up I tried the “Clone” option and the same error message came up and still nothing in the log file which seems odd. I did a repair install of Ghost but that did not fix the problem.

As a thought instead of a ”Clone” back up couldn’t I just copy all of “C”. Is a copy the same as a clone?

Once I'm out of Thailand, do I need to enter Laos in order to get my 30 days visa when I come back in Thailand, or can I just do some shopping in duty free shops, and come back, without entering Laos ?

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Tried that once they check for the other countrys stamps so to answer your question you do need to enter the other country.

I use Johnson “OFF” comes in orange spray can and is available almost anywhere, price between 90-120bt.

Have at some time tried practically all the repellants available in LOS. The best I found was in a slim white/palegreen bottle, forget the name, with roll-on dispenser. Very effective and you don’t have to cover all the exposed skin, a few dabs here and there, but very expensive.

Beachcombing ain’t what it used to be and find OFF good value for money and easy to apply just spray no messy fingers.

Yes I go along with spray the room every evening. We usually do it just before going out so the smell is gone by the time we come back.

Beachcomber.

Hi

Wonder if someone can give some help or advice with Norton Ghost 2003. I run XP Pro with SP2 and get the regular updates and patches.

I have two hard drives and used to back up to my second drive with no problem. Some little time ago I bought a larger hard drive as my main drive. I took the opportunity to do a clean install on the new drive and installed all the same programs hopefully without all the junk and untidy bits that seem to collect on a computer.

The trouble started when I tried to do a back-up of my now beautifully clean setup. Norton goes through all the motions then does an integrity check which throws up the message “Task completed with errors” with something like “do an integrity check” which again throws up the same error message.

When I try to see the log file get message “Cannot access the file it is being used by another program” What program? If I click “View log file” from the Ghost basic screen the file comes up empty, surely there should be something on it – all my failures to do a back-up with errors.

If I open and explore the back-up disk it all seems to be there - but is it?

As I said my set up now is practically the same as with the old hard drive but obviously something is disagreeing with Norton.

Any ideas and helpful advice will be welcome.

Does anybody use Nero back-up and like to share their opinions on it.

Beachcomber.

KHUN BOB - Hope the map is OK I used the lowest resolution still keeping the detail to keep the size down. Shows well in Paint.

Most of the interesting area is round the grey shaded streets on the left up from the railway station.

The minibus office for Padang Besar on the street second on the right up from the station past Cathy Guesthouse on the right. Its not so much an office as an empty shop with desk and few chairs. There is a sign outside and usually a couple

of waiting minibuses so you cant really miss it.

As for places to stay there is the Cathy Guest house for the really budget conscious, backpackers mostly, at about 190bt for room with shower and fan. The Montien and Kings Hotel are right next to each other, first right up from the station, are not bad, hot water, fridge, AC and cable TV about 400bt. The Sakol, forth on the right up from the station, better than the Montien and Kings at about 650bt. Lots of Malay business men with their Thai girlfriends but nice friendly place.

For those seeking “entertainment” there is the Pink Lady (www.pinkladyhotel.com) which is hotel, massage, sauna, relax karaoke bar all in one, all in the best possible taste! There are plenty of places Pubs, live bands so take a look around.

In the same area there are several department stores and a maze of small streets selling mostly cloths and electrical goodies anything from vibrators to Tazers.

Beachcomber

Sorry Posted twice

Beachcomber