jbsears

Just go for a massage. It will waste a couple hours and relax you. I know I need a massage after dealing with air travel, especially if I have to go through a US airport. Talk about stress.

If you have the money, you may think about Micronesia. I've dived at Kosrae. It was amazing. The other islands I here are amazing too. My sister lived there for 2 years in the Peace Corp and says its the best diving she has ever dove. But it can be quite expensive.

Have a fun trip!

Two years ago the same thing happened to me on Thonglor. I was waiting to get a taxi at night on Christmas and two cops came up on their motorcycle. They patted my pants and checked my wallet. Luckily, I had a photocopy of my passport so they let me be. I was also stopped another time on Ekkamai entering my soi in a taxi. The police were stopping every car entering the soi and checking i.d.'s. This time I had my student id which stated that my passport was kept at the university's international relations office.

Think they are just trying to get some extra money for New Year presents.

Yeah, basically the question is where can I find sliced deli meat that is chicken breast or turkey breast. Usually the delis will tell what the fat content is of the meat. Chicken and Turkey breast is usually marked 99% fat free. I think the Americans will understand what I am asking. This kind of meat just may not be popular in Europe which may be why it is not popular here either.

If the product is not for sale here, it is okay. I was just wondering since I have always looked for it whenever I go to a new supermarket.

Thanks though for the suggestions on precooked chicken. I do like them. I am just looking for something simple, easy to prepare and store in the fridge, and healthy.

At the deli's in the U.S. the chicken or turkey is cooked, formed, rolled and prosessed for slicing.

Or do they ( where you go ) put a leg on the slicer?

Sorry for all those that don't understand my question. What I am looking for is healthy 99% fat free chicken or turkey that has not been processed to the point of being like bologna. Yes, to this poster, everything is processed to some point. It is a fact of not selling full feathered chickens.

People please only reply if you actually know of where to buy in BKK.

Thanks

I'm a little confused - I thought all luncheon meat was processed.

nope, not at all, but in thailand. in the us, they have unprocessed turkey and chicken lunch meat. fresh sliced at delis.

You could try chicken

Yeah, that's what i'm asking about. they don't sell it here which is quite weird since that is what Thailand is known for exporting. all they sell is raw chicken which is pointless since it is not lunch meat. Lunch meat is desired since it requires no cooking and easy to make a sandwich out of.

I've been here for a while now and have yet to find unprocessed chicken sandwich meat. The 99% fat free healthy stuff found back home. Everything at the supermarkets is either some type of ham or bologna. I went to Subway to get a chicken and a turkey sandwich and both meats were processed, unlike the fresh chicken breast and turkey that are at the US Subways. Therefore, Subway doesn't provide a healthy sandwich like back home which is why I like to eat there.

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, seems to be a lot going up at the same time. I live right by a BTS station and there are 3 condominiums currently being constructed within 100 meters walking distance in both directions from my condominium building. All three are selling between 60k-65k per sq.m. I have been wondering who are all the people that are going to by these condos. The majority of Thais cannot afford them. My building has a number of Chinese-Thais that own many units and rent them out. Then again I could be totally off. I'll just have to wait and see.

I ride my bicycle everywhere in Thailand and the Thai are about the most courteous drivers I have encountered. Mind you I am talking from a bicyclist point of view and not a car driver's viewpoint. In the last month I have ridden over 1300 kms in Bangkok traffic in the last month and I have yet to see a driver force me off the road or in anyway endanger me or my bicycle. They seem to give way to bicycles, as strange as that may seem. Also when driving a car, I make it a point to be more aggressive than they are and they have given way everytime. I am not defending their driving habits or driving skill. I am merely saying that toward a bicycle, they are careful and very accomodating on the road. This probably doesn't translate to their attitudes towards other cars, but hey I drive alot less than I ride my bike. My route takes me from chinatown to Sanam Luang and then to samsen road going all the way to nonthaburi and back at least 4 times a week. Never had any problems with cars, tuk tuks, taxis or buses. Your mileage may vary.

This seems to be true too. When my gf drives, she is very careful around motorcycles and bicycles. She just doesn't want to kill anybody. I think she fears karma.

When I drive, motorcycles beware. I treat all vehicles on the road the same. If they want to drive on the road they must follow the same rules. If they do something crazy and I take out a motorcyclist, so be it. My train of thought is that if the cyclist survives then he/she will learn a lesson not to drive like that. If he/she dies, then others watching will learn the lesson. Harsh! But rules are made to be followed!

I plan on bringing my Thai gf back with me to the US for vacation in the summer for two weeks. She has a very well paying job at a well known international company and they will right her a later, so obtaining one shouldn't be a problem. I was wondering if they will give her a two week or one month visa or will they probably give her the 10 year visa?

I will probably start bringing her back with me on my yearly vacations home and would prefer a 10 year so we won't have to go through the process all the time and because there maybe an emergency sometime where we would have to leave right away and can't wait for another visa.

A lot of the problem with traffic deaths here is wound up in Buddhist philosophy.

Illustration:

Two days ago I was stationary at the Dolphin roundabout in Pattaya when an old BMW side swiped me. He had to stop as there was gridlock. I looked at him - he looked at me - he looked pretty unruly and was probably drunk. As I started to get out, he drove away down to Beach road. I thought about chasing him, or reporting him (I got his number), but thought: "What's the Point? Life's too short."

It cost me 3,000 Baht to repair the damage.

I told my wife what happened. She asked why I didn't chase him? I said it wasn't worth it - who knows he might have had a gun and shot me.

She said if it was her she would have gone after him.

What if he shoots you?

If God decides it's time for me to go then so be it, but I wouldn't let him get away with it.

That's ridiclous - what about your son, your family - you'd risk all that for a few thousand Baht?

Yes - I would. It's all down to my fate - if it's time to die there's nothing I can do about it.

Have you ever been in a vehicle with Thais when they narrowly escape a serious accident. Did you look at their faces? They were probably all smiling. Why? Because it wasn't their time to die.

I'm afraid its this kind of fatalistic attitude that contributes to many traffic accidents.

That is exactly it. That is why taxis and other Thais have Buddhist ornaments all over the dash and mirror. They truly believe that these items will protect them. Many do not actually think they hold their own fate in their own hands. If you drive defensively, you have a lot less chance of dying than if you drive offensively with tons of Buddhist images.

Just sent documents to Minnesota. Worked perfectly. Sent them last Thursday and arrived Monday. You can track the documents online just like FedEx, DHL, or TNT.

Is giving gifts to officials (corruption) so accepted that the man openly admits it to the police and press?

Your decision should mainly depend on what you plan on doing with your degree. If you just plan on teaching in Thailand, any bachelor degree will do. If you want to have an office job in Thailand, it would probably be best to go home and go to a state university since they are in your price range. If you have a Thai degree, businesses in Thailand will treat you the same as a Thai employee with the same low wage. If you plan on leaving Thailand, definitely go back to the US and finish your degree at a state school. I know a professor here that went to Chula for undergrad and then to the US for her Master and Ph.d. I asked her if Ph.d programs in the US respect Bachelor degrees from Thailand when Thais apply. She told me that only Chula and Thammasat are truly respected, though ABAC and BU are starting to get some respect.

Remember that a state school back home will be the same price as a top international program here. I went to a state school that has one of the top business schools in the US and my tuition was $2,500 a semester (class of '02). Thammasat and other like international programs are the same price.

If it was me, I would go back to the US for a couple years and get a top rated education that is respected all over the world. You will live a long time, so going back for couple of years for decades of reward afterwards is not a bad trade off. Thailand will still be here.

Any of the European ThaiVisa members heard of Rio Hodo Community College, College of Charleston, or Alabama A&M? I'm sure there are many great univeristies in Europe that I would have to look up the name to as well.

The International College at Payap University is in charge of the English programs of instruction at Payap University. Payap is a private univeristy founded by the Church of Christ.

PeaceBlondie is correct, Payap does have degree producing programs that are approved by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for administration of financial aid. The VA doesn't give their stamp of approval lightly. Their website says their approval is only given to accredited institutions. Overseas universities have a very strigient process they must pass to get approved.

I am planning on attending in August, 2007 as soon as the VA approves the course that I am requesting and my application for VA financial aid. (VEAP).

If your in Chiang Mai, stop by the International College at Payap Univeristy and ask for more information. The head of the admissions department is a retired U.S. Navy sailor.

C'mon man, it's a paper mill. Seems to be run by people who got some of their higher degrees from paper mills too, Check out some of these alma maters:

http://ic.payap.ac.th/

What is good about Payap though, is that they do have some knock out looking girls attending there.

In Chiang mai, CMU a far better choice academically: http://www.cmu.ac.th/glance_eng.htm

http://www.cmu.ac.th/generalinformation_eng.htm

You really don't know the definition of a papermill. The curriculum of the courses at Payap are avaliable for you to read off the internet. Papermills generally do not require you to attend but this has 4 years of instruction associated with it.

Payap also has 4 English BA programs and 4 English MA programs where CMU only offers nursing and engineering taught in English.

You mentioned that CMU is a far better choice academically but I have heard the same thing about Payap being far better than CMU. I guess it depends on who you want to believe. More people go to CMU because it is a cheap school to attend.

Also, Payap has been around a lot longer than CMU.

They are probably both good schools to attend.

For one thing, CMU has been around longer than Payap. CMU - 1964, Payap - 1974. A lot of private schools in Thailand are papermills. All the students have to do is pay for tuition and do the very minimal. Then four years later they get a degree. These schools don't flunk you as long as your check clears. Unlike the US, the best schools are the government ones and not the private universities. The private universities are for the purpose of making money and not educating.

It comes from the saying, "Like I could care less." Meaning you could not care less. It is just shortened to "could care less." Same meaning as, "couldn't care less."

There are a bunch of Africans (not white South Africans) in BKK that are obviously not tourists. I never see them work. The Westerners are usually teachers or something of the like, but I can't seem to figure out what the Africans are doing here. Are they citizens like a lot of the Indians? Is there some kind of industry in Thailand which they work in? I'm just curious and none of my friends have a clue either, so I figured I'd see if any of you have a clue.

Anybody know anything about those two towers above Pratunam Center? They've stopped construction for a couple years now and still have the cranes up there and for sale signs for the condos they never finished.

And the construction they just stopped about 2 to 3 years ago by the Nana BTS station. Its another eye sore since its right on the tourist route and covered with graffiti.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just have it posted free to my family and then have it posted here. If it wasn't for the advice, I probably would have had it sent FedEx and ended up being taxed.

I want to purchase some eyeglasses online in the US and have them shipped here in Thailand. Including shipping costs, the glasses are about 3000 Baht cheaper online than in stores here. The website says that I may have to pay import duty depending on the country. Does anybody know if I have them shipped FedEx or something like that, what will the import tax be? Is there a way to ship them here without paying any import duty?

Would appreciate any suggestions.

By the way if the price needs to be known to figure it out, the glasses are approximately 8000 Baht online.

I don't think this diving school would count under his criteria. He said large company which would mean US50 million revenue or more and over 500 employees. I would think this would be considered a small enterprise. Look at the CP website. It is still family run and all men.

Thailand is very much patriarchal, but that doesn't mean that the women are less capable. They are just given less opportunities to advance.

I just don't do gifts. She is Buddhist, therefore no present. She will just give me a card. Then I'll give her a card for New Year since Thais celebrate New Year. Same with our b-days, just cards. No reason to waste money on gifts. If I want something, I'll buy it myself, same for her.

Anyways, I just hate buying gifts for girls.

Its amazing how many places in Bangkok are not wheelchair accessible. There are only a few BTS stations that are wheelchair accessible. And it is only around 5 years old. This just shows the contempt this country has for the handicapped.