Loptr

Immigration or the police can ask for your passport at any time. That is why is is suggested to at least have a copy of your photo page and entry/permit to stay stamp with you at all times. But a copy does not have to be accepted they could still ask for you to get your original.

I could understand a tourist carrying his passport for a few weeks, but for an expat carrying it all year long ?

For me it a no no , I have very good very detailed photos of it on my telephone...but in Samui? When they make a check point for helmets they do not even ask the driving license to any one.

I also take photos of my passport picture page and visa pages and keep them on my phone... Have not had it questioned yet...

You checked Pantip, right? I'm sure I saw some firewire cables at one of the kiosks there...

You might try Apple in Bangkok...

http://www.thebangkokshoppingguide.com/apple-stores-bangkok

Funny how they don't mention pissing in public...

Lampang is a nice city, although quite small compared to Chiang Mai... There is a Big C, Lotus and Central Plaza mall... There are not a lot of farang around, especially compared to CM and not a lot of English speakers... If you don't need or want to be entertained by all that a city the size of CM has to offer, the Lampang is a nice alternative... If you do need to visit the big city, CM is only 1 hour away by car...

1 hour by car. It can take 1 hour just to go from Lamphun to Chiang Mai on a normal day. Need to give yourself 90 minutes to from Lampang to Chiang Mai.

I live in CM and go to Lampang at least once a week, sometimes twice... It's only 90 kilometers... Perhaps you need to pickup the pace because I make it in under 1 hour...

So here's a and I'll raise you a as a retort...

From Post 20

"Driving like a mad man with a tail win its doable. For normal driving it can take up to 1 hour from Lampun into Chiang Mai at times."

You don't have to repeat yourself...

I made the drive from CM to Lampang and back yesterday... From the CM outer ring road to Lampang was 50 minutes... The left lane runs 80 - 100 kph and the right lane goes between 110 - 130 kph... If you feel that those speeds reflect "driving like a mad man", then by all means stick to public transport because that's the way it is...

Hmm, best I can tell is that Number 6 finally escaped the Village...

Yeah, that's right NS, it's all just a conspiracy...

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/04/07/u-s-police-kill-more-civilians-in-march-than-uk-police-killed-in-100-years/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/04/police-killed-people-fbi-data-justifiable-homicides

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-kill-citizens-70-times-rate-first-world-nations/

The RTP will continue to be a joke as long as they keep transferring these crooks to other divisions instead of bringing them up on charges... Just more proof that nothing has really changed...

If it is in fact the Quidam show, it is well worth seeing...

I used to have a dog that would snip at people he did not like... Until the day he died, all I would have to say is "bite her" and he would take a chunk out of my ex-wife... I miss that dog...

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

What you call trolls are most likely people that have been burned in Thailand, one way or the other... Their voice is just as valid as yours, whether you like it or not... Advocating banning people due to their views, however much you disagree with them, says more about you than them...

Biking on the wrong direction may be a good way to see what is coming and avoid an accident with the moving cars....but....will not avoid an accident with a car enterign the road on an intersection because the driver will be looking in the other way....

Happens with me and I got injured...Be careful...

I saw this exact thing happen a couple of weeks ago... Two thai women on a scooter were riding against traffic on the shoulder... A SUV was pulling out into traffic, looking in the direction traffic was flowing and ran right into the scooter going the wrong way... Fortunately the women did not appear to be injured, but the scooter was totaled...

Don't blame US fast food for obesity - blame the lack of willpower and the ignorance of the consumers.

In the US, many people are overweight across all races (B/W/Mexicans) and span many societal strata, but most of the grossly morbidly obese tend to be the poor & under-educated apathetic losers unfortunates.

In any sane country, if a product was deemed detrimental to the populace it would be banned for the betterment of the country... Not so in the US and you want them to spread this "disease" to the rest of the world?

If your shoulder clicks or feels like it is full of gravel when rotating through full motion, you may have bone spurs that are irritating the bursa... Pushing weights only makes it worse... I had the same problem many years ago and it finally got to the point where I had to have it fixed... I had out patient arthroscopic surgery to clean up the bone spurs and they also found and fixed a torn rotator cuff...

More smoke and mirrors... Obama will sign an order before midnight to extend the program without Congressional approval... Done and dusted...

An ex girlfriend of mine, about 2 years ago, used to do delivery work.She said Farangs were the best for tips, usually 40 or 60 baht. Sometimes the farang gave her 100 baht, but usually because he had no smaller change.

On one occasion she had to go to a fairly new condo block in Pattaya. It was pouring rain and it took a while to find it. The food order was heavy and she had to go up 20 floors. The bill was over 1000 baht and the Thai customer gave her 3 baht tip. Naturally, I was the person, she vented on. How lovely.

This... Ask a Thai person how much they tip for some perspective and they will tell you NOTHING... My GF tells my I'm crazy for leaving a 20 baht tip in restaurants because khon Thai never tips...

To all you exprats that use western standards to tip in Thailand, thanks for perpetuating the view that we are all rich...

I doubt it as government offices are closed for the holiday...

^ The point is not about having a fake number to send / receive SMS message or using LINE / Whatsapp... Many US banks now require you to receive a SMS message on a US registered telephone number to complete online transactions... When performing wire transfers or sending funds via ACH online, the bank sends a confirmation code to your phone via SMS... You have to enter that code on their site to authorize the transaction... This is the only reason I still have a US SIM card and keep the account active... Skype didn't work, but will investigate the Google Voice method...

The Pentagon BoyZ seem to be stretched a bit thin in the region... Think I'll make some popcorn and wait for the fireworks...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-naval-abilities-test-asias-insecurities-1432724142

China’s Naval Abilities Test Asia’s InsecuritiesBeijing plans to expand naval operations at a time of rising regional tension

By

TREFOR MOSS

Updated May 27, 2015 11:14 a.m. ET

China’s promise to beef up its navy to prevent further “meddling” and “provocative actions” by rivals in the South China Sea is a daunting prospect for many of its neighbors, which already view Beijing’s fast-improving armed forces with trepidations.

Could this be just what's deployed in Asia? For instance the US has 11 nuclear carrier groups - Nimitz Class. One is stationed in Japan. LINK

Yes, this is just the US Pacific Fleet deployed to the region, as I stated... If the US pulls assets from other theaters, then who is going to intimidate protect the Mediterranean, Gulf of Hormuz, Suez Canal, Atlantic, etc?

Hmm, he announces that he would not hold a press conference due to the potential damage to tourism, yet he makes this statement at a, wait for it, a press conference with reporters...

The Pentagon BoyZ seem to be stretched a bit thin in the region... Think I'll make some popcorn and wait for the fireworks...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-naval-abilities-test-asias-insecurities-1432724142

China’s Naval Abilities Test Asia’s InsecuritiesBeijing plans to expand naval operations at a time of rising regional tension

By

TREFOR MOSS

Updated May 27, 2015 11:14 a.m. ET

China’s promise to beef up its navy to prevent further “meddling” and “provocative actions” by rivals in the South China Sea is a daunting prospect for many of its neighbors, which already view Beijing’s fast-improving armed forces with trepidations.

You could create a Skype account on-line " http://www.skype.com/en/ " open a Skype account and then sign up to have a stateside phone number assigned you for $13.99 a month. You can also sign up to be able to use your Skype account to make free phone calls from your computer to most anywhere in the World for an additional fee. They also have a call forwarding option that can be used. I send and receive sms and phone calls in the States and to anyone I do so with sees my number as a Stateside number. You can pick the Stateside area code you would like to use.

I've tried this with Skype and it does not work... Please share just how you do this on a US Skype number as their docs state specifically that SMS forwarding is not an option...

Lampang is a nice city, although quite small compared to Chiang Mai... There is a Big C, Lotus and Central Plaza mall... There are not a lot of farang around, especially compared to CM and not a lot of English speakers... If you don't need or want to be entertained by all that a city the size of CM has to offer, the Lampang is a nice alternative... If you do need to visit the big city, CM is only 1 hour away by car...

1 hour by car. It can take 1 hour just to go from Lamphun to Chiang Mai on a normal day. Need to give yourself 90 minutes to from Lampang to Chiang Mai.

I live in CM and go to Lampang at least once a week, sometimes twice... It's only 90 kilometers... Perhaps you need to pickup the pace because I make it in under 1 hour...

So here's a and I'll raise you a as a retort...

Its certainly a scary thought as they can hit targets in Thailand easily given how lax security here is. The only thing we can rely on is the intelligence from the US secret service to prevent such attacks.

Sorry but,

U.S. secret and intelligence all in one sentence.

Dillusional.

Especially considering that just this week the pentagon released documents confirming the fact that ISIS was created and supported by the US in the first place...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c4b_1432536490

Hmm, after reading the OP a couple times, I still cannot figure out if they are referring to the four-legged or two-legged variety of kwai...