husky

Recently we have been making weekend trips to Bangkok.  We have a small compact car we drive up in.  One hotel a couple of weeks ago said 'There is no parking whatsoever and we said so on our website'.  We found garage parking and I ended up checking when I got home, agoda mentioned nothing.  Next time I booked on agoda and asked out of 8 hotels if they had parking.  I got two responses.  Luckily the one who said 'we have parking for 1 car' (which I meant to take if you and your wife drove up with separate cars you were on your own with the second vehicle, but actually meant the entire hotel had one car parking spot) actually had the one spot available.  Now for booking for next time I called one hotel, 'no parking'.  I thought this can't be this difficult, so I started looking at different sites, booking.com and hotels.com which clearly state whether each hotel has parking or not.  I have seen parking specified on agoda but very very rarely (so I believe I know where it would be stated).  I'm pretty sure I'm looking over all the info as it is right there on the booking and hotels website.  Anybody else ever notice this?  Also I have parked in other areas in Bangkok without problems, Lumpini/Silom seems to be the no parking zone, any other drivers of cars notice this??  Is Agoda slipping?  I used to use them exclusively but am now switching. 

There is a group that runs at the Budda Hill.  They start at about 4 or 4:30, normally 15 to 20 people I think.  It is the 'Pattaya Team' if I am not mistaken.  I have run with them a couple of times.  When you get the the 4 way intersection at the base of the hill, they meet right off the the left there.  The hash house harriers is a different thing unrelated to this group (I am a member).  

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements

Under Types of Foreign Assets and Whether They are Reportable:

Foreign-issued life insurance or annuity contract with a cash-value: yes it is reportable

I bought a Toyota Vigo a number of years ago. Not wanting to buy accessories at the dealer we went to a local shop in Pattaya that sold accessories, bed liner, bumper guard, etc. I also ended up buying a 'super up' brand rear lid. It is the type that has a switch in the cab to turn on or off and front and rear lifter buttons. I really like the cover, very convenient. The place we bought it was able to install it OK, and they always seemed to do OK on maintenance until recently.

After a number of years the lid kind of stopped working. The lifters would not lift it evenly and sometimes it got stuck. The place I bought it tested the motor, etc. Finally they said I needed to buy a front lifter mechanism (the lifters + motors). Price = 12,000. When I finally was ready to buy the part, it was now 16,000. I asked why the prices had gone up so much but the lady wouldn't engage in my question and just kept reiterating the price was 16,000. So I put down 8,000 as a deposit. About 10 days later they called and said the price was now 24,000 if I wanted the part. Since the new price is just over 30k, that seemed really excessive and I was not going to deal with them further. They did refund my 8,000 without any issues or problems.

I googled 'super up ไทย' to find the web site and checked their dealer list. In fact -- come to find out the place I had bought it from was not on their dealer list. Went to the local authorized dealer, Boy Air and Sound. Part, price = 10,000. They got it in one week and installed it. Also found the wires had been mis-installed, bent and stuff and had degraded from the original installation so replaced them. Super happy.

The original place returned my deposit without a problem and I always though they did a good job until this final go round. At least with the Super UP top be sure to check their web site and make sure you are dealing with a listed dealer. BTW: the prices for buying the new top are similar at the dealer vs non-dealer, but the non-dealer is not trained properly to maintain/service the top!

Just a note; if you are talking about the FBAR there is a pull down for 'type of account'. The options are Bank, Securities or Other. On the FBAR you could select other and be good to go.

Also had this problem when running a 10km loop. Started carrying a thin and light bamboo stick with me (no fun carrying heavy stuff for 10k!), if the dogs were nipping at me would stop turn around and whack them one. They seemed to remember and stopped coming after me. I don't mind if they bark and protect their area, it is just when the run up as if to bite!

Thanks for the reply. The unit I am considering is the Garmin GPSMAP 62sc (which has compass, alt. and camera). Not sure why the price is so expensive here, the GPSMAP62s is 25,500 here or 374.99 USD purchased overseas. (the 62s is the model with no camera, the 62sc is 443.35 overseas and is not sold here). Just want to verify that there is no major difference between overseas purchased or local, which is sounds like there is not.

I know this posting may be somewhat redundant since I have seen some references to this topic in other threads (which are older and I currently can't find), hoping to get current information on this specifically since I am thinking about getting a handheld Garmin for off road/on road use. What I would like to end up with is a Garmin unit with ESRI Maps most current version. I have read that the Maps can be bought and loaded on the unit in Thailand, but what are the differences between a Thai purchased unit (Thai OS) and foreign purchased unit?

Have my iPhone set up to be in English and all works that way, except when I go into Safari and then Google. Google comes up as www.google.co.th. If I change it to www.google.com it comes back as www.google.co.th again. Think it is a setting in Google but can't seem to find it, any ideas?

never take cash to Thailand always Travelers cheques (this is the only country I know of that gives better rates than cash)

Just a check since this referenced thread on claiming a tax refund has been archived:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/239828-thai-bank-interest-im-paying-tax/#entry2511376

Is the procedure still the same, location of tax office, etc.? (thread is from 09). Very good info in thread, just checking if anything is different and if anyone has done it recently.

There's nothing even close. To cover all that is special about California Wow over other gyms in Pattaya is beyond the scope of this thread. That would be a long list indeed.

would change to: There's nothing even close for the price. To cover all that is special about California Wow over other gyms in Pattaya is beyond the scope of this thread. That would be a long list indeed.

Nobody has brought up the Dusit, was a member there for many years, it is the 5 star work place but is really expensive.............. [ie much better than CA Wow, not even close]

"The landlord has cut our power even though we are protected by court's order."

I saw the same sign. It also went on to say something about them trying to get power restored by Monday afternoon.

That would be nice if it happens!

Thanks for all of the information. We did get the new Thai passport and in the process they mentioned that if you want to reference a visa in another passport you should get an endorsement added to the new passport. Today we took the new and old passport to the passport center and paid a fee of about 100 baht and they added this endorsement:

Endorsement NO. xxxxx The holder has previously travelled on Passport No. ######## issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Bangkok on xxxxx which has been cancelled and returned to the holder, the visas duly affixed still remain valid. Director of Passport Division Done at BANGKOK on (date).

I infer that this may be required by some other countries to confirm that the expired passport is actually linked to the current passport (although with the same name, dob, etc they should already know this).

Another thing: in our case there is nothing to indicate the old passport is cancelled, just that the passport itself is expired (they did not stamp cancelled in it or otherwise deface it).

Looking at the visa requirements for my wife, Thai, to accompany me on a cruise. The departure is from Hong Kong, China with stops in Xiamen, China and Okinawa, Japan. Are visas required for these destinations or is it entry on arrival?

The Timed Deposit for 12 months today yields 3.8 %. There is a disclaimer on the information sheet at the top: 'Investing in this has risk. The investor should educate himself/herself to the risks involved prior to investing'. There is also a section which shows various securities. When I asked them about the statement of risk the bank said they need to put that on there to satisfy legal requirements but the investments are extremely safe and there has never been a case when at maturity the principal + interest wasn't returned.

It strikes me that it is very similar to a 'money market' fund in the US or abroad, which is priced at a stable price and then almost always holds that value (although there have been some exceptions).

So, my question is, is the money market comparison valid. Are these investments 'ultra safe' with the risk statement just a cover all?

Just talked with AIS. They said that on the unlimited 3G package you only get 3G download until the line is throttled at 380kb. She said it is a feature of 3G service the world over (?). First the throttling came almost right away so there might be something wrong there, but the concept is that on unlimited package it is only unlimited at a limited speed.... unlimited at unlimited speed is limited to 3GB (say that 10 times fast:). Not sure if this was reported earlier or not, I didn't see it, any more info on how this will work with other 3G carriers, etc would be helpful.

I am trying to determine the current system speeds as they seem to vary, at least in my experience.

Please report what speeds (download/upload) you are getting today around the Pattaya area. thanks.

Initially I was getting speeds of 1.5mb to 2.5mb on the intro 30 hours. Now on the 799 unlimited 3G package speeds seem to be limited to around 360k. I have confirmed that I have the correct 3G package. What I would like to know is anyone currently getting the 1.5mb + speeds and with what setup/package?

We did it earlier in the year and everything except getting the visa appointment was smooth. The US Embassy division that handles appointments I think plays some games because there are never any appointments available on the calendar. It is a frustrating process getting the appointment as it involves paying money for on-line pins, etc. and then at the end of the on-line process you hit this 'calendar never has any appointments' dead end. We even thought about trying to do the appointment in Chiang Mai since their calendar is 'normal', but it would have been a no-go since we have no ties to that area. Anyway, finally I faxed my US congressman, and followed up with an email and EMS overnight letter. That did the trick as far as the appointment went, we got an expedited appointment the next week. The US congressman had assigned it to a aide who really did a good job of putting heat where it needed to be put and in addition kept in touch with me asking how the process was going.

The only other point I would make here is that once you get the appointment and the wife actually goes for the interview you (the husband) are not allowed to enter or accompany the interviewee (wife) so you should organize all of the documentation for the wife to carry appropriately before hand and not expect to be there to be asked to present any documents.

In our case we were just looking for a travel visa but they gave her a 10 year visa.

If she's your girlfriend/wife, they'll be worried that you're trying to get her in the USA as a tourist, when in reality you are trying to avoid going through the K1/K2 visa process.

I believe it is easier to get the visa if the husband has a visa legally living in Thailand as otherwise I think the above is a problem.

My wife was granted a 10 year USA visa (type R B1/B2) recently and it was placed in her Thai passport. The original Thai passport (that the 10 year visa was placed in) is now expiring so a new thai passport will need to be made. To get the 10 year visa re-issued/replaced in the new thai passport would require a trip to the US embassy (I would imagine), but would an appointment be necessary or would it just require a drop in (since the visa was already issued)? (it is very difficult to make an on-line appointment and hoping to avoid such)

Just as I was scheduling an appointment on-line (as of today there are appointments) I got an email in granting me an earlier appointment. It was a reply to this from the US Senator's 'Outreach Coordinator'. Apparently the squeaky wheel does get the grease.....

I am contacting you regarding a constituent who is currently residing in Thailand. Mr. Husky contacted the Congressman to get assistance in scheduling his wife for a non-immigrant visa interview. Mr. Husky’s mother is very ill and he would like to bring his wife and U.S. citizen daughter to the US to visit her. According to Mr. Husky, he has been attempting to schedule the interview online and through the call center. However, he has not been able to find an available date for scheduling. The lack of available appointments caused him to seek assistance with the scheduling of his wife. He appears to have exhausted all other options. If you could facilitate the scheduling of a non-immigrant interview for his wife, it would be greatly appreciated. I have included the information below.

Constituent: Mr. Husky

Email: [email protected]

Wife’s name: xxxxxxxx

Passport #: Xxxxxx

DS-160 Confirmation #: Axxxxxxx

Please let me know if you require further information. I would appreciate a response back indicating the availability of an interview. Please feel free to reach out to Mr. Husky via email, as well. Thank you very much for your time and your efforts. Have a great day!

Yes, I saw and grabbed an appointment today. This is the first time since I have been trying for about 2 weeks I have seen any. Maybe all the complaining (letters to congressman etc) has paid off????

Thanks Ken, but you can not ask for a expedited Appointment until you have one catch 22.

I sent a letter to my congressman via EMS and also faxed him. I attached a generic copy here in case you want to take the time to send a letter yourself you can see the basic format I used. It may or may not be of assistance but eventually if enough letters are sent the US Embassy section dealing with the calendar will get the message.

110404CongressmanGEN.docx

Who are you calling? I too have be trying but have not found anyone that really care

Visa Information and Appointment Website: http://thailand.us-visaservices.com/

Call Center Service: 001-800-13-202-2457