mstevens

Are there any money changers in Bangkok who will change older USD 100 banknotes i.e. the 2006 series, into Thai baht?  I understand some money changers will only accept the latest series.....but will any exchange older (but very good condition) USD banknotes?

2 hours ago, TRichards said:

There's a difference. He's under no obligation to tell me his name in these emails, and hasn't. Which most likely means he's a coward. It's unrelated to giving it to the police when reporting this alleged defamation. So yes, I'd find out his name, when potentially arrested at Christmas. That doesn't help much with trying to avoid being arrested beforehand. 

I think you are failing to look at the whole picture here.  No, he does not have to tell you his name, but look at the situation objectively: If someone made a criminal complaint about you to police then do you really think they would start sending you anonymous emails about it.  I very much doubt it.  If they emailed you at all there would be zero reason to hide behind a non de plume.  The odds that the person behind the emails has made a complaint to police about you is genuine is very, very slim.....unless there's more to the story and there's something pertinent you're not telling us!

14 hours ago, TRichards said:

I don't even know his name. The email address is random and he doesn't use a name. I've got nothing to go on. I doubt my ex wife would tell me his name either. 

If someone makes a complaint to the Thai police they have to do so under their name.  Their ID card or passport details are recorded and they are noted as the complainant.  An anonymous tipoff about defamation would be ignored.  So if this mystery person does go ahead and make a claim for defamation against you the first thing you would know is who they were.  Given that they have not used a name the whole thing sounds bogus.  Anyone who had a genuine case would not hide behind a nameless email.  It sounds very much like they are simply trying to scare you.  Really, I would not worry about it.

I'd be tempted to reply to the email and state clearly that you have not defamed anyone and that any accusation of defamation is false.  Go on to say that anyone making a false claim about you would see a counter claim against that person.  Yes, if in Thailand someone makes a contrived claim to the police about you which subsequently proves to be false then you can sue them for that.  It's all a bit silly and such a response seems unnecessary and not the sort of thing one wants to engage in, but maybe it will shut this person up?

I get the impression that there are fewer posts on Thai Visa these days than say a year or two ago.  I could be totally wrong about this but I find myself spending less time on the forum as there just doesn't seem to be the same number of posts as there once was.  Sure, the number of threads and posts is still huge compared to other Thailand forums but is Thai Visa as busy in terms of the number of posts nowadays as it was in the past?

I've given it a bit of thought and perhaps the reason I feel like this is simply that topics about the same old issues appear regularly - and I am less likely to read about an issue the second or third time it is discussed.....so that might be a simple explanation.

This is in no way a complaint or criticism or anything like that.  I wonder if others feel the same.  Is there a metric which comparing the number of posts on Thai Visa daily now compared with say a year or two ago?  Curious.

I just fired in a few dates for early next month, flying Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos and also to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Was curious to see what sort of fares were on offer.  Less than 4,000 baht return to either destination all in.  That seems ok to me.  I don't doubt what the OP says about AirAsia being pricier than it used to be, but these fares still seem fine to me.

Gmail works perfectly on a Mac using Firefox with no noted slowdown at all.

1 hour ago, smutcakes said:

Jesus shut up <deleted>. What the hell do you know.

Who knows what the truth is with so much of this operation over the last 24 hours.  About the only thing people agree on is the number of boys who have come out.  But who they are we're not sure.  Whether it was the weakest or strongest (or tallest or shortest or.......) who came out.  Their respective health / condition.  Whether their parents know who is out.  Etc.  Etc.  Pretty much everything that has been said by one network has been contradicted by another.  It's hard to know what's really going on!

If you're running a legal business in Thailand you must have Thais helping in some sort of professional capacity like a lawyer, accountant etc.  Talk to these people who will be much better able to help you with making contact with the right people than your average ThaiVisa farang ever will.

Go AFTER lunch time i.e. arrive there after 1:00 PM.  Near 2:00 PM is probably about optimum in my opinion.

The main reason many Thai women choose to get involved with a foreign man over a local Thai man is the perception that she will be better off long-term with that man than she would with the type of Thai men who are interested in her.  Unfortunately these women you have met seem to understand that they would be better off with a Thai man than with you hence you're not having a lot of luck.  This is not a Thai women thing.  Financial security is important to women the world over.

20 hours ago, Just Weird said:

"...any stock available in Thailand has probably been on the shelves or in a warehouse / in storage for rather a long time".

 

Garbage, why do people like you post such crap? 

I got some from Tops, Sukhumvit, last night, packed on date is 27/3/18, best before 22/12/18, nothing unacceptable about those dates. B199 per pack, Vintage and there was plenty of it.

What I posted was not crap at all.  In November last year Mainland Vintage went out of stock across New Zealand with notices in supermarkets posted saying it would be available in July 2018.  It is still not available at supermarkets in New Zealand as of this morning.  I was in the local supermarket 3 hours ago and still no sign of it.  I can only guess that Fonterra (the company that makes Mainland brand cheeses) is putting more emphasis on the international market than the domestic market. 

22 minutes ago, shaurene said:

I went in BigC 2 days ago and bought the mainland tasty brand with the red label same price 179 baht, the other one which says 24 months ripening is 5 baht more. I was back in New Zealand 2 months ago and the Thai price is around the same price as NZ. Call into Tesco they have the same cheese  but always 5-7 baht more than the mainland.

it is surposed to be a very low duty because they are in APEC BUT CUSTOMS COULD HAVE GOT DIFFICULT, you never know.

At my local supermarket, 1 kg of Mainland tasty cheese is currently $12.49 which is about 281 baht - so the New Zealand price for a New Zealand-made product is (as you would expect) MUCH LOWER than the price in Thailand.  The Vintage variety has been out of stock in New Zealand since late last year so any stock available in Thailand has probably been on the shelves or in a warehouse / in storage for rather a long time.

FWIW, even here in New Zealand where the cheese comes from, the price of Mainland cheese recently went up also.  A 1kg block of Mainland Tasty cheddar now runs $NZ12.49 which is about 280 baht.  (And if that sounds cheap compared to what you pay for the same product in Thailand, only a few weeks ago it was $10.99 for the 1 kg pack!)  The Vintage has been out of stock since late last year - but should be back in stock this month.

2 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

If the story is accurate, as a TE member myself i find the one year ban very disappointing. Surely the sensible outcome would have been for the OP to pay the 20k fine and be able to remain in the country. I don't believe that this could not have been "arranged". The ban is very embarrassing for TE and no doubt will impact future sales if more people become aware of it. Obviously mistakes have been made by all parties (the OP, TE and immigration themselves). 

The point you make is fair, but never forget that this is Thailand and the concept of "sensible" is not common, at least in my experience.

22 hours ago, cmsally said:

Yesterday morning saw Thai woman buying 300 Bts worth of stuff in 7-11 on a credit card (not debit)! Over coffee we were trying to think if there was any reason you would do this unless you had no money - either cash or in bank. I don't know is there a reason, it just seemed pretty strange.

A lot of credit cards accumulate points or cash rewards so that is one reason to pay for stuff with you credit card (and make sure you clear the total balance at the end of every month!).  I pay for almost everything on my credit card because my card gets $1 back for every $75 - all of the little purchases add up - spent so at the end of the month there is usually around $35 or so cash back paid to me.  It won't make a big difference in my life but it's a nice little bonus and is one reason I pay for virtually everything with my credit card.

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

 

Sure, I've been in the lower levels of the building, I used to live just around the corner years back when it first opened.

 

It will be interesting to see if you can walk right into their offices without being authorised, signed in, issued an access card, etc.

Been in there and it's easy.  Just tell the main information counter which company you're going to see and they will ask you to give them a form of ID such as national ID card or driver's licence.  They will retain that and give you a visitor's card which they program so the lift will allow you to go to the floor of the building where the company you wish to visit is located.  You swap the visitor card for you ID at reception when you leave the building.  Easy peasy.

Vasu Exchange at the corner of Sukhumvit soi 7/1 has great rates and is very easy to get to - it is below the Nana skytrain station.

The Big Chilli wrote in the last edition exactly what you had heard - that Molly's would be moving further down Soi Convent towards the Sathorn Road end.  This being Thailand, I expect it's simply a case of construction / renovation running longer than anticipated.