sfokevin

Apparently it has gone from 10 days to 5 weeks for the free one.. I can verify that. Most of the clients are Burmese......

Sad... 500 baht means a lot to them...

It's not a windmill... In Phuket it was made pubic in the local newspaper and the head of Immigration had to put a stop to it...

I wish the Chiang Mai News had a reporter like this:

http://www.phuketgazette.net/articles/articles/get_article_detail/37149

This is NOT like paying ones HOA fees for removal of your trash - you are paying for services provided to you...

This is NOT VIP service - If it were at least some part of the parking lot would be paved and roped off for your use and the guy in uniform would be handing you a chilled drink and a straw...

This is NOT a bribe - Bribes are given not required...

The best description is extortion - N. The crime of obtaining money or some other thing of value by the abuse of one's office or authority.

The point was well made that you are not on a path to nibbana...

I saw one in the showroom... Looks great... But I did see it had a button next to the key that open the seat (like Honda)... These seem to never work... Would like an owners report?

On a serious note I do consider this extortion... Isn't there a local Juanta hotline where one can report this?

It's not the principle it's the money.

It's over 2000 baht for the same thing at the British Consul in Chiang Mai. The only difference is that they have no idea where you live.

So paying 2,000 baht for a non proof of residence is all straight and above board and in no way illegal, but paying 500 baht to the people who do have proof of where you live is criminal and scandalous. Life is strange.

Wow I thought the 1600 at the US Consulate was high

2k eh?

But the Consuls happily gives you a receipt!... So one can just consider this a cheap knockoff that also provides a shiny new truck for some underpaid bureaucrat...

Most of this type of trade is traded informally across the land borders between the 4 neighbors. All it takes is a pickup truck or even a larger truck full of cans of Thai tuna or bananas or whatever loaded to the brim, which easily crosses the border with minimal or even no inspection taking place.

All this quarantine stuff is hocus pocus, means nothing in this region. Most trade is not done officially and the idea of having to go through a whole set of quarantine procedures to export agricultural produce in this region seems ridiculous. I've seen it with my own eyes - truck carries rubber between Laos and Thailand - no need to do any inspection, "oh, you're the rubber truck - just go on then".

But an official inspection/quarantine and import system is needed extort bribes... Duh...

Lenovo do a decent range of low cost LTE Phones. The Honor 3c LTE is one. But for overall value I think the Benq F5 @ 5,995b from Lazada in the best (reviews have been mixed but generally good) it's a decent LTE phone for not a lot of money.

http://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=benq+f5

the only problem is its cash on delivery, im staying in an apartment and im sure it will be a problem me waiting in. Can they deliver it to a store for pickup? or another way of doing it?

They call me when they are close to the house... I live in a small soi and have told them to meet me at the nearby Wat... Not a problem...

I sent one via EMS Tracking to Chicago about $20usd...

The hard part will be getting it sent back here without a HUGE customs bill!!!

Yes, that's the part which worries me. It's likely to be a new phone too. Any suggestions on return postage to avoid a huge customs bill.

How long did it take for your phone to reach Chicago by EMS?

The post office sells a nice little box for about 20 baht... And it only took a week... And EMS tracking all the way... As for getting it back here without a huge customs hit is a crapshoot...

If your going to spend ~4K baht... go and check out an iMobile shop... all there phones are unlocked... many with dual (2) sim capability

I sent one via EMS Tracking to Chicago about $20usd...

The hard part will be getting it sent back here without a HUGE customs bill!!!

Take a songtow all the way to the end of Jomtien road one evening and there a a couple Thai seafood restaurants that have tables right on the waterfront ;-)

My guess is that most of those Russian planes landed more empty than full...

Sound similar to counting empty sacks of rice...

I assume you have gone to this site and confirmed delivery of the EMS to Immigration?:

http://track.thailandpost.co.th/tracking/default.aspx?lang=en

Did you also have the Post Office put a EMS sticker on your return envelope?... Does tracking show up for that?

http://www.roughguides.com/article/best-beaches-in-vietnam/

I think this is Wat Suan Dok... That would be the grave yard... its right next to where the guys sell lottery tickets and amulets...

10,000 a month is not adequate income - you would also need to have 380,000 baht (800,000-(52*10,000)) on deposit in a Thai bank account to get the extension

The two halves they may be able to do a veneer at 10k each... The one you lost will require a post or something similar to a root canal that would be 20k... So 40k total....

Don't wait as the loss of the one tooth will cause others to shift to the void and they will be weakened..

Ukrules - appreciate your perspective

Soibiker - Came on a recommendation and were locked in our rental.

darrendsd - Have been in Nong Khai for a month and some pretty nice sidewalks here. But yes, I know..

Where is this nice sidewalk you speak of?...

I like Hotspot Shield... They have a free app for computers and the phone app cost $29 a year for up to 5 devices ;-)...

They have a free one week trial for the phone app to try it out ;-)

You might try marching down there and offer up a Farrang version of Frank Sanata's I Did It My Way... That should clear the place...

After a urologist evaluated my elevated PSA, he ordered a biopsy. After evaluating biopsy, he discussed treatment options. Of course, one of the options was the "wait and see" approach, involving an endless series of biopsies.

I chose the daVinci robotic surgery method. Dunno about bangmai's friend (above), but it worked out very well for me.

Hello Mekong Bob,

Curious was your urologist here in Thailand?... and was the DaVinci surgery done here also?