goski

Thank you very much for the reply.

Do they still take thai baht when applying for the lao visa at the border or do they insist on US dollars?

The visa fee for Laos is still payable in baht I hope? I searched but the threads are all from before 2006.

And so subjective as well! Mentioning food costs and such in Vientiane but not any Liquor/Entertainment buys in Mae Sai. Not fair. Besides I get the bus fare for half of the price mentioned to Udon.

Yes, and the time is correct. Effectively you get 14 day periods because you stamp out and in during the same day. Then you have 4140 baht according to mentioned Mae Sai budget for a 120 days.

I take the bus for 990 baht back and forth to Udon and thus I end up with 5890 baht for the Lao budget. 1750 baht difference and then I don't have to go to Mae Sai 9 times. Only 2. Luckily, 1750 baht is not so essential that I will die in case I have spent that extra amount.

Saving is important for some so don't buy any wine, liquor or cigarettes at Mae Sai! But then again expats don't drink so much do they....

It's always good with information but I got stuck on one technicality. Why did you go back to Thailand for smaller bills and then back into Burma to pay the immigration there? What did you pay them with in the first place before you went backand what's the point of doing it twice?

And long quotes I must say!

...and also an ultrasonic microphone in case of flying batmonkeys. Anyhow, I´m a little confused here about the time schedule since it seems to be the point that going to and back from mae sai should be as fast as possible. Does this include check-in times at the airport and such or just active traveling time?

I did the intensive thai about 4 years ago, only farang in that class to go all the way through advanced 3, it was all very good. I remember that the teachers were all professional but that a few of them were going to stop teaching after my class finished advanced 3.

My class sat along for the interview procedures for the new teachers and eventually settled for a woman that seemed both skilled in didactics and had a profound knowledge of Thai. The rest that came for the interview that day were all a bit... weird to be honest.

Anyhow, my question to the OP is what teachers are still there?

I also found the advanced level to maybe not be so informative but really useful because in my case we could all use previous experience for the assignments we got and that also gave us a lot of freedom and it felt good to be able to handle Thai in that manner.

It's flying banshee batmonkeys! I'm sure because then you don't need an ultrasonic microphone to hear them.

I ended up buying the camera mentioned in the topic at pantip plaza in BKK instead. Same price as at Big Camera Big

C, but the shop in pantip included two memory cards, a nice camera bag, screen protection, cables, software and also a tripod. A buy I was very happy with so it is worth taking the time to check pantip out whenever being down in BKK.

Please refrain from putting photos of family on the internet scea, you might be compromised later.

Firstly, I have always be against transliteration unless you don't really want to learn Thai because learning the transliteration would take as much time as learning the language properly. In that case, transcription is better. But, for tonal languages you're bound to face a problem with transcription. Because how would a novice pronounce the street "Phaholyothin"? That is an insane transcription I think.

Secondly, transliterating Thai must be done by someone that is heavily influenced by spelling and tradition, how could it work otherwise? It's two different sets of alphabets, the Roman and the Brahmic/Khmer. You're bound to learn that if you study Thai anyways. Luckily, there is an official transcription of Thai but not really a useful one for those who want to learn to speak.

Thirdly, "yeu" "เยอะ" is not many, but "much" and thus an adverb and not an adjective. There is no cut-off sound in yeu, it´s a close-mid vowel sound with a high tone, so it just sounds like it has a cut-off sound. By the way, what is a cut-off sound? It´s more like a sudden stop I think.

Bats don't scream and unless you have a ultrasonic microphone you wouldn't really be able to hear them.

There are tons of scops owls so which one in that case?

Guessing that there aren't that many owl experts amongst the expats I give you this:

http://www.zyworld.com/NAKARIN/plate60owls.htm

That's a very interesting aspect Brahm. Generalizing that because a cheap eatery is full it must mean that most Thais are cheap. Not even a single circumstance as well like what age group, time of the day, weekend etc etc. Doesn't really fit well logically in my book. Fair enough that western owned places shut down, that happens all the time and Chiang Rai is not a place for western food unless you're aiming at coach tours, e.g Ayes etc. We all know that. Well, we should anyway.

I could probably mention that every time I go to a more expensive Thai restaurat, there are alot of Thais in there but I don't say that means all of them have alot of cash. Simple logic and much more correct since Thailand is as any other country in the world with both people with a little money, and those with alot. And they of course, choose their place accordingly.

I see, I must have been thinking about the level 6 language test.

With a slingshot.... and a high tech surveillance camera.

Then again, if it's already broken you could just send it from here with ordinary mail

Just kidding, good luck.

Level 6 is university level if I remember correctly and that is extraordinary good if a single teacher could offer you that. I would guess that with some basic knowledge and full time studies, about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for a year would be ok in order to reach level 6.

Yes, that is what I usually take as well. It is good enough. Please inform after you come back Shorty, I am going next month and would appreciate an update on the current situation (I refuse to go to the visa section because there are too much subjective input there to deal with).

Yes, I can't understand how anyone could recommend not choosing Le Meridien, especially when you don't have to pay for the stay. Also, it's a brand new luxury hotel with everything that comes with it, far better than the Imperial Golden Triangle. I agree that Dusit is a bit boring so really Le Meridien would be the obvious choice. Also the same owner as the Wiang Inn if you want trivia.

First. C'est la vie. And after that snotty remark I would just like to add that I went there last night and had a quick chat with the farmers. Weren't that many around, about 20 people maximum. They didn't really have the blockade going that well either so I could go through on a motorbike. Since I will go through there again tonight it will be interesting to see how things have developed.

Aren't there two routes from the Thoeng direction at least, through Sriburin Hospital and also a small soi before that. Ah, I have to go and have a look because I can't remember.

Yes, that is old Tascas and the new owner/person is a Thai guy from Mae Sai. You might even know Johnn from other parts of the north. Such as Chiang Mai.

That is the question Sven. And I'm afraid you have to start realizing that you might not get your sangsom back. I know it's hard to face but sometimes life is hard. Next time I make merit I will give your sangsom a thought.