SamuiRes

I have had ear problems since a teenager and have had three operations on my ears. I have six monthly check ups with ear specialists and they always use the suction pump which gently removes the wax. My first ever real problem was as a teenager with bad ear ache and my local GP used a warm water syringe - unfortunately not being a specialist and not having the right equipment to look in the ear, he did not see I had a perforated ear drum. Consequently water was forced into the inner ear with considerable discomfort and pain for days. That is the main reason for never letting anyone syringe your ears unless they are an ENT specialist who can check the ear drum first.

Presumably these ear cleaners who use lighted paper in the ear just melt the soft wax which is absorbed by the paper. The problem will not be the soft wax but the harder wax building up against the ear drum. That needs specialist removal.

I guess they saw a similar report to this before it hit the English language press.

Quote

BANGKOK (The Nation): Around 9 pm last night, before the Administrative Reform Councils first announcement, soldiers entered Shin Satellite headquarters the control room for the Thaicom III satellite.

All employees were cleared out.

I had no idea what happened then. Its startling, said a control officer, who anticipated the soldiers could have blocked satellite transmissions.

Hours later, UBC signals broadcast via Thaicom were shut down. At first, there were negotiations to block only news channels particularly CNN and BBC but later all channels, including entertainment, were off air. The shut down was still in force at press time.

Thaicom III building on Phaholyothin Rd also houses control facilities for Advanced Info Service, which operates a GSM mobile phone network. It was seized at about 8 pm.

No soldier went inside the building but were terrified, seeing soldiers sur rounding the building like that, said an AIS employee. Still, we waited until 11 pm, after learning about the coup and seeing no violence. Then, we headed home.

AIS services are operating as usual.

There were also reports the Administrative Reform Council (ARC) sought to cut off all mobile phone networks, but operators talked them out of it because of emergency health situations.

Besides former Shin Corp media outlets, now owned by Temasek Holdings of Singapore, the offices of other mass media including Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) have been encircled by troops.

At the office of NMG on Bangna-Trad Rd, 40 soldiers are stationed around the building. They claim to be here to protect and provide security. Those wanting to enter or leave the property were required to present identification.

Meanwhile all six free-to-air television channels have suspended their normal programs and are broadcasting songs praising His Majesty the King. There is an occasional broadcast for the ARC.

Channel 11, operated by the Public Relations Department, and iTV returned to normal broadcasts at 8.30 am today.

Rumors.

If that were the case, they would have done that already.

Situation is Thailand is calm, considering the alternatives.

What would be the reason to cut phones and internet? There is no rioting in the streets.

I agree that is what it sounds like and we are still OK here on Samui. But that is why I asked the question to see if anyone else had heard the same thing.

With everything going on right now, I wonder if the prime minister will need a special visa to get back into Thailand.

Non-immigrit type "C" for coup

More importantly, if he stays in London will he have to leave every 30 days?

My Thai staff are telling me that there is a report on a Thai News site stating that they will be cutting both Internet and Telephones today.

Has anyone else heard this?

What's happening in Patong ? I'm in Melbourne and the Bangkok Post and Nation websites are blocked ?

The Nation is available - I had no problem so far - Bangkok Post I cannot get on.

i heard that koh samui was to taken over and turned into a guantanamo bay style holding centre for arrested politicians , dissident isaan rice farmers and illegal english teachers.

I thought this thread was supposed to be about rumour not fact!!!

Hey guys im from USA and im planning to move out to koh samui in a few months but i was wondering if anyone owned a bar personally or new how to go about starting one with laws and whatnot. Or could just generally give me some info about it. thanks

OK - you have had some pretty consistent and solid advice in this Post which essentially tells you that running a bar in Thailand is a very risky business and the vast, vast majority fail and money is lost.

I for one would be interested to know if the OP is taking this on board or if he still has ambitions to conribute to the retirement fund of a lonely BG!

Here in Samui I run one a/c unit at night only. No other heavy usage - lights, tv only.

last month the bill (direct from the Elec. Co)

348 Units @ 2.476 = Baht 861.67

Surcharge = Baht 263.92

VAT = Baht 78.79

TOTAL = Baht 1204.38

or Baht 3.46/unit.

You are a low user so your price per unit will be lower as the first few are at much lower rates that later. Living on the island you also probably don't have the blacktop effect we have in the city where everything is paved and still have plenty of plants and trees to keep it cooler. Not to mention a sea breeze. The temperature difference between a green area and normal city paved area can be quite amazing.

Actually the roof of our bungalow is corrugated iron and the house acts like a night storage heater and is anything but cool, nor are we near the sea to get sea breezes.

Here in Samui I run one a/c unit at night only. No other heavy usage - lights, tv only.

last month the bill (direct from the Elec. Co)

348 Units @ 2.476 = Baht 861.67

Surcharge = Baht 263.92

VAT = Baht 78.79

TOTAL = Baht 1204.38

or Baht 3.46/unit.

I had the same concerns when we left the UK the last time and asked as we left if we could get a departure stamp in my wife's passort and was told quite clearly that this was not possible. We have just applied for another visa for this year and the issue of departure was never brought up and the visa was issued without any problem

Hey guys im from USA and im planning to move out to koh samui in a few months but i was wondering if anyone owned a bar personally or new how to go about starting one with laws and whatnot. Or could just generally give me some info about it. thanks

Buying a bar in Thailand seems to be everyones dream but usually turns into a nightmare. Unless you have good experience and know what you are doing you will lose money. I have seen too many go that way and even those that are moderately successful start looking to sell after a year, some even sooner. There are many people here who will sell you a bar - why? Because they can't wait to get rid of it!

www.movieseer.com is a good website for movies in Thailand .... will give you info on what's showing most everywhere and is easier to navigate than the others

Except it shows "The DaVinci Code" as being in English when it is in Thai.

Not so. Movieseer is more clever than that. The left side column lists the theaters where it is playing, when you click on an individual theater link it brings up showtimes and subtitle information for that venue. Subtitle languages vary by theater.

see: http://www.movieseer.com/MovieProfileBil.a...=4889&Channel=2

If you follow your link, click on Samui, it shows "Da Vinci Code"

PG13

English Version

Which is what I said - but they are showing the Thai version.

www.movieseer.com is a good website for movies in Thailand .... will give you info on what's showing most everywhere and is easier to navigate than the others

Except it shows "The DaVinci Code" as being in English when it is in Thai.

Saw the movie last night in BKK ... well worth seeing! (The comment about French <<and latin too>>) is valid ... you won't miss much of the meaning though.

The movie is showing in Samui ... try www.movieseer.com ... they are mostly accurate

Went in on Saturday and they only have the Thai language version. The girl said she thought they "might" have the English version next week.

How many farang orientated dentists exist on samui?

Anyone have any contact details for any of them?

Thanks in advance!

Try also Dr Supaporn in The Natien Centre on the Beach Road just down from SIH. I had two fillings there yesterday Baht 1700 total.

077 413 770

[email protected]

I have also heard good things about SIH though.

Had a check up at Bangkok Samui a few months ago - all she was interested in was selling me cosmetic surgery. Not impressed at all. Wanted to put full crowns on the two teeth I just had successfully filled.

Have to say that when I took my Thai wife to the UK two years ago through Heathrow we had no problems. There seemed to be a lengthy queue for non Brits and I stayed with her in that queue. It did however move pretty quickly and when we reached the Immigration Officer he was an extremely charming Asian who asked the usual questions, why are you here, how long etc. always with a smile on his face and welcomed my wife to the UK. had a quick look at my Passport and wished us a pleasant stay. Could not have been better.

This year we are going through Birmingham - will see what that is like!

Subject: Husband-Wife golf story, very touching.....

Joe is teeing off from the Back Tees. On his downswing he realizes that

his wife Mary is teeing up on the Red Tees directly in his way. Unable

to stop his swing he nails it and hits her directly in the temple and

kills her instantly.

A few days later Joe gets a call from the coroner regarding her autopsy.

Coroner: "Joe, your wife seemed to have died from blunt force trauma

to the head. You said you hit a golf ball and hit her in the temple, is

that correct?"

Joe: "Yes sir, that's correct"

Coroner: "Joe, I also found a golf ball wedged in her behind"

Joe: "Was it a Titleist 3 ?"

Coroner: "Yes, It was"

Joe: "That must have been my mulligan

A gushy reporter told Phil Michelson, "You are spectacular, your name

is synonymous with the game of golf.

You really know your way around the course. What's your secret?"

Michelson replied, "The holes are numbered"

>------------------------------------------------------

A young man and a priest are playing together.

At a short par-3 the priest asks,

"What are you going to use on this hole my son?"

The young man says, "An 8-iron, father. How about you?"

The priest says, "I'm going to hit a soft seven and pray."

The young man hits his 8-iron and puts the ball on the green.

The priest tops his 7-iron and dribbles the ball out a few yards.

The young man says,

"I don't know about you father, but in my church when we pray, we keep

our head down."

>----------------------------------------------------

Police are called to an apartment and find a woman holding a bloody

5-iron standing over a lifeless man.

The detective asks, "Ma'am, is that your husband?"

"Yes" says the woman.

"Did you hit him with that golf club?"

"Yes, yes, I did." The woman begins to sob, drops the club, and puts

her, hands on her face.

"How many times did you hit him?"

"I don't know, five, six, maybe seven times.....just put me down for a

five."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A golfer teed up his ball on the first tee, took a mighty swing and hit

his ball into a clump of trees. He found his ball and saw an opening

between two trees he thought he could hit through. Taking out his

3-wood, he took another mighty swing; the ball hit a tree, bounced

back, hit him in the forehead and killed him.

As he approached the gates of Heaven, St.Peter saw him coming and

asked,

"Are you a good golfer", to which the man replied:

"Got here in two, didn't I?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The bride came down the aisle and when she reached the altar the groom

was standing there with his golf bag and clubs at his side.

She said:" What are your golf clubs doing here?"

He looked her right in the eye and said, "This isn't going to take all

day, is it?"

Hi guys,

I'm planning to go to Koh Samui, next September, but I'm really don't know nothing about the place, except what I read in the previous posts.

I want to pick a Resort right on the beach, secluded if possible, with bungallows, not to near from the main spots, but with a chance or two to have good restaurants near by. I have a budget of 100 USD per night.

How is the weather in September?

Thanks for all your pacience?

Cheers

Eagle

Check out http://samui.sawadee.com/ where you will get a reasonable description of all the hotels available. Bophut is a good recommendation based on what you said.

For weather have a look at http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/48550.html or http://www.tmd.go.th/index_eng.php

However, weather here over the last few months has not been usual with a lot of unseasonal rain. September should be OK though.

Regarding the written instructions to the bank, is something like this OK:

I wish to send the amount of US Dollars XXXX to the following account in Thailand:

Account details

This amount is to be sent in US Dollars and the currency exchange to Thai Baht is to be done by the receiving bank in Thailand.

Under no circumstances is the currency exchange to be done in the United Satates.

Seems clear enough to me and if you can get them to acknowledge receipt of the instruction so much the better.

It would seem to me that any instruction to transfer funds overseas would have to be in writing anyway - I cannot see a bank accepting verbal instructions to do so. There must therefore be evidence at the originating bank which can be checked and that will either show they were given the wrong instruction by the client or did not carry out his instructions.

More!more golf jokes pleeeeezeee!!!!!!

The Golf Club Secretary looked out of his office window and saw a male player taking stance on the Ladies Tee. He switched on the course loudspeakers and said,

" Will the gentlemen playing off the Ladies Tee please move back to the Gentlemens Tee!"

The player looked round and waived the Secretary away and took his stance again,

"Will the gentleman playing off the Ladies Tee PLEASE move back to the Gentlemens Tee NOW!"

The player again looked round, waived off the Secretary and took stance again.

The Secretary, now furious, stormed out and confronted the player.

"How many times do I have to tell you to move back to the Gentlemens Tee?"

The player turned slowly, gave the Secretary a withering look and said,

"Will you please shut up and let me play my second shot!"

I'm having cash sent from the US, the US banks will give a poor exchange rate so last time my customer requested the exchange from US$ to Baht be done in Thailand.

But the bank (Soveriegn bank) did the exchange in the US and sent Baht to Thailand. The rate was 36.4 to the $ and this was the start of April.

I'm now having around 5k sent over. How can my customer guarantee the bank will follow his request and send $?

Thanks!

The first thing I would recommend is that your Client gives written instructions to the bank that the transfer is to be made in US Dollars and NOT Thai Baht. Then if they do anything different he has a claim against them. One of my Clients had the same problem with his UK Bank and we were able to provide evidence of the exchange rate here on the same day which he took to the bank and received compensation from them for the loss on exchange.

The other thing you need to do on receipt of the funds is to apply through your bank for the Foreign Exchange Transfer Certificate which is only issued on funds being recieved in Thailand in foreign currency and only in excess of $20,000. This will make the repatriation of funds at a later date a great deal simpler. Funds received in Thai Baht will no get this Certificate.

You are correct in that the exchange rate in Thailand is always, in my experience of many transfers, much better that overseas.

The other thing we recommend to clients is to split the charges as the recipient bank charges here are again always less than overseas.

THEN later than evening me and my friend ate outside at a Burger king, before leaving I left my mobile phone on the table, didn't realise I didn't have it untill about an hour later at home, in my mind, wrote it off, but called it anyway, a girl answered from Burger King, I'll be collecting it later today!

Now I'm by no means 'converted' but a nice little story of idiosynchracy I think!

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My sentiments exactly Meadish, although have not heard a great many tales of taxi drivers returning left belongings, I was pleasantly surprized by that!

Lost my phone three times at various times over a few months in a taxi in Bangkok and every time the taxi driver brought it back. They are not all bad you see!

Can't disagree with any of the above, but the one currently showing that cracks me up is "Coupling".

Blackadder is hard to beat - especially the last series in the First World War.