meltingpot2015

LAOS! That is so annoying

Lao... the s is silent in pronunciation, perhaps from the French.

Sorry, in French , for Laos , the " s " is not silent, it's pronounced " Laosse ", never say " Lao ", but written " Laos " ; as a general rule when there is an " s " at the end of the word, " s " is not pronounced ( like " champs ", pronounced "chant " ) Laos is an exception

Is the "Laousse" pronunciation common to both locals and foreigners. I read that locals pronounce it "lao", foreigners ought to pronounce it "Laousse", but Thai people pronounce it "Lao".

edit: does it depend on who you are talking with?..Laotian, Thai person, American, Australian etc...

second what OP and someone else has said. Municipal council or city hall equivalent in your area. Bound to sort it out. (guess it depends how efficient they are).

Explain one wire has already come off..get the neighbour who's wire it is to support you.

LAOS! That is so annoying

Lao... the s is silent in pronunciation, perhaps from the French.

TV content is very dated. Most of the pinned stuff is useless. It's only the posts that are relevant.

The rentals, sales of property absolutely worthless.

similar to Beaujolais, or Champs-Élysées. A word where p is silent...coup.

When I did searches with the wrong spelling for Laos, the search results (using many search engines) gave me results for Laos. Google even says "Including results for find laos forums". I must have missed it. because it usually asks "Did you mean..."

Bing search engine gives results for the correct spelling but no message like google.

Anyway, not blaming the tools...my mistake. thanks for correcting.

The "actual buses" have always charged me the 7-10 bhat (for short journey as its central bangkok) or over 10 bhat (for longer journey depending on length of journey). Over 9 bhat for AC buses.

Does it really matter? as long as you know a bhat bus is a Songthaew, and you don't pay a higher Songthaew fare on an Actual bus.

edit: if someone calls an actual bus a bhat bus, they are simply incorrect.

I don't even really know what a baht bus is. Some pattaya thing? Not really relevant in the Bangkok forum, is it.

a Bus is a Bus . And the journey is paid for by the country's currency namely "baht". Some unsmart posters seem to like to add the term "baht"

Bangkok has thousands of songtaew, (baht bus) 7-10 baht, they generally charge more after 9PM

Once asked a Thai person, how to get from Immigration (not the Chang Wattana one but the other small immigration in the outskirts of Bangkok) to central Bangkok. He pointed to the bus stop across the road said "Bhat bus" also said which number bus to take.

I have not seen any pick-up truck, double-cab type bhat bus in bangkok. But then haven't ventured outside central Bangkok much. Difficult to judge from the one experience, but would hazard a guess that locals called the big buses "bhat bus". So, foreigners also started calling it "bhat bus".

Don't think anyone is trying outfox the other in using "bhat bus". If you pay at the destination I would assume its a double-cab, pick-up truck type, or truck bus, as supposed to the other kind of bus you see in other parts of the world or central bangkok (where a conductor collects the fare when you get on the bus).

edit: There have been sightings of Songthaews in Bangkok.

You will probably find that the western countries offiices, if they say 1 hour for lunch, will open again exactly 1 hr from the time they stopped for lunch (or open few minutes before the 1hr is up).

I've visited the Office of the consumer protection Board (OCBP) in Bangkok, which is in the same building as Chang Wattana Immigration. The staff stop for lunch at 12:00pm then grudgingly amble back to their desks at 1:15pm.

Affects Thai people and foreigners.

You should try Malaysia. Worked there in private industry. Midday all the Muslim males would head off to the mosque (allegedly), leaving any females to run the plant by themselves. Straggle back in about 2.30 pm. No wonder the business was struggling to make a profit.

Consumer Protection in Thailand?

I know, consumer protection in thailand is a bit of joke, especially for retail purchases. But some guys have had success with OCBP when they've had issues with a bank. Threads about this on here.

Been to Malaysia recently. Actually KL Airport only. That was enough. What on earth were they thinking with that airport.

Can recommend Vientiane, Laos - lovely people, slow pace of life.

Vietnam - personally pick Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) over Hanoi hands down for more reasons than one. If you are flying from BKK, then SGN (saigon) is closer, cheaper flights/flying time. From elsewhere, maybe HANoi has more flights coming in.

Found Hanoi to be like a fishmarket. Bussling, pushing, shoving, you name it. People are arrogant, crafty, and have little manners. Saigon people are much calm and collected and have cool heads.

If you do visit the old quarter in Hanoi, take extreme care on the roads if you are walking/crossing the road. Motorbikes coming from all angles. Some will cut across you just to park on the pavement.

You will probably find that the western countries offiices, if they say 1 hour for lunch, will open again exactly 1 hr from the time they stopped for lunch (or open few minutes before the 1hr is up).

I've visited the Office of the consumer protection Board (OCBP) in Bangkok, which is in the same building as Chang Wattana Immigration. The staff stop for lunch at 12:00pm then grudgingly amble back to their desks at 1:15pm.

Affects Thai people and foreigners.

Why not just stay on topic or take it elsewhere?

No TV is not my favorite forum. I won't bother hinting at which one is because it wouldn't be my favorite if half the people here frequented it.

No TV is not my favorite forum. I won't bother hinting at which one is because it wouldn't be my favorite if half the people here frequented it.

I feel honored to be a member of TVF.

Management, moderators & members give me much hope.

I am ready @ 8.02am after the Thai National Anthem.

Every day is full of quality information - thought provoking.

Bring it on!

Not many (if at all) members have had dealing with the management, so, unless you think they are the unsung heroes in the background......

If only threads were about the Original Poster and satisfying their selfish needs.

We call those who "agree" unwittingly, "yes men".

This thread has probably run its course.

Can anyone recommend the iphone 4 or 4s?, for basic phone use, SMS, using 3 or 4 apps, maps, and internet browsing. Not too bothered about phone camera pixels.

I'm still using my iPhone 4 that I bought in 2010, so it's served me well. However, it's getting slower and slower as apps are getting more and more bloated, to the point that it is driving me nuts and I'm about to get a new phone. Perhaps I should try reflashing it and reloading everything, but I think 5+ years is a very useful life for a phone, and Apple sure doesn't owe me anything. I'm also looking forward to a lot more oomph and new features - in particular, a fingerprint scanner so I don't have to enter an unlock code every time I want to use my phone, waterproof, better camera etc.

Anyway, if you can get a 4 or 4s for almost free and are a very minimal user, perhaps it's worth while (they are well built). But if it's gonna cost you more than a $100 (or 3000 baht for the gentleman complaining about the US$ pre-eminence above), I'd look elsewhere. I'm not very familiar with the lower end of the market (I believe in buying reasonably decent and hanging on to it as long as possible - my primary goal is to minimize my personal irritation, not save money), but I'd be surprised if there aren't some good buys to be had for $200 and less.

Debating whether to buy a known brand (e.g. Apple) but not the latest, because the latest will be 'overkill', and I don't see the point in paying for Apple's marketing costs of their new iphone X. Also, I cannot afford a top of the range latest phone.

The other option is to go for a mid-range to top range lesser known brand..some suggestion on here, Motorola, Asus zenphone, Huawei Ascend G6, IQ II phone etc.

I am really looking for a phone that offers value for money more than anything. Without all the bells and whistles.

used as a cash cow AND persecuted.

How much did she take you for?

I don't think we should talk about the good folks in immigration like that.

Can anyone recommend the iphone 4 or 4s?, for basic phone use, SMS, using 3 or 4 apps, maps, and internet browsing. Not too bothered about phone camera pixels.

All I see is:

Use Internet search engine to search for 'Cabbie caught cheating, filmed'. Click on link that reports about passenger cheated with dodgy taxi meter. What you will see could have happened to anyone.

If you haven't had any trouble with a Bangkok taxi, you don't take enough of them, have been extremely lucky (and I mean extremely), or have a vivid imagination.

There is no magic formula for not having any trouble with a Bangkok taxi. You can reduce the chances by working out/being aware of the obvious traps, but something like a dodgy meter you would not be aware until the taxi is on the move.

Chatuchak market, near Morchit must have dogging tools.

I first read this as "dogging tools".

Can open savings account with your passport for ID. If you do not succeed at first try another branch/bank on another day, or even the same branch at a different time of the day.

After going to many banks and branches, KTB (the light blue/cyan) bank in Central World (near Gaysorn Shopping centre) in Bangkok, opened a savings account.They issued an ATM card and passbook on the spot.

Keep in mind, it helps if the branch is quiet when you visit to open account.

See more about it here.

Also, look in to how easy/difficult their support is after opening account. See:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/843259-working-in-bkk-which-bank-to-choose/#entry9693439

I did not encounter any issues when opening account, but did encounter serious issues when contacting KTB Support by phone, and e-mails sent were not responded to.

Is this a trick question?

I know my answer would be closely scrutinized!

So..

Yes! TV is the best ever!

My Like was just for the 'is this a trick question' part.

Not my favourite but definitely the most useful

Is your favourite a specialist forum?

Now that would be telling.

So its not a specialist one....

just tell us (if its specialist or a grand daddy, no need to name), we are all friends here.

Not my favourite but definitely the most useful

Is your favourite a specialist forum?

you mean real issues not issies, right?

I don't get it. Issues as in issues. For health issues I see my doctor. For retirement/ financial issues I see my banker etc..

Other "issues" are just drivel that waste time.

What do I like on Thaivisa ? many people, everybody has different experiences, views and I like to read what other people think; for instance, about health, the Sheryl's advices bring much and only one doctor can't know everything about everything, same for retirement- financial issues, dozens of people have more to say than one person

there are other forums in other languages, among them my language, ( interesting for things concerning my specific country, like taxes, insurance, banks , administration, embassy ), but for the rest, Thai visa is really the best concerning Thailand and other subjects, and best of all, I improve my English here ( I understand at least 80% without my dictionnary )

There is definitely some great threads on banking. Simple things like opening a bank account, which in the West is a doddle. But most foreigners who are just off the plane find this a huge challenge in Thailand. (If you are interested in the answer, it's if at first you don't succeed, keep trying with other branches/banks.)

Yep, with some threads there is thai bashing going on, but, there are also some nice threads on thai and english language (and tinglish), and I reckon these help build bridges. Think there is a forum on here dedicated to thai language (I could be wrong), and there's heaps of recommendations on how to learn thai, and methods to use.

most is not all, it excludes some.