isaanistical

20 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I'm glad Mukdahan is on the map, I was beginning to think it was a nothing kind of place.  Now in the space of a week we've got a potential Airport and Anthrax.  What's next?

Armageddon?

I've been there and I think it (NOT being patronising, honest) a very nice little place that wants leaving alone and not being ruined.

26 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Governor Worrayan seems to throw a tantrum over the issue. No airport would rob him from the 15 minutes of fame as well as a statue on the main square of Mukdahan - while others might fear for the commissioning which would not take place. 

Needless to say, that a Basel-Mulhouse airport (being both a Swiss and a French airport) with a bus shuttling from Mukdahan to and from the gated airport would cost an absolute fraction (in the one digit percentage compared to an airport in Mukdahan which is literally 10 minutes away from the Lao Savannakhet airport). 

But don't hold your breath, Thailand has proven daily to be good for yet another surprise - on vera, as the French say 😉 

I'm sure the brown envelope(s) are more significant than the statue, but...

Has he ever tried the Savannakhet to  Mukdahan journey? A full day with native bearers and immigration, for Thais too. Absurd to compare it with central Europe.

A much quicker and simpler route is to fly to Nakhon Panom and drive the 100km. But there's no money - sorry, kudos - in that, is there?

15 hours ago, lungbing said:

The problem with that when you have to send a document to somebody who doesn't use Libre Office.

so save and send as .doc or .docx or whatever you would have sent in MS. Ditto in the spreadsheet.  have not had that problem in all the time with Libre. I've used the powerpoint clone too, no problems with compatibility.

As for setting up (mentioned above), what I did was copy an existing file as a template or master or something, and then work from that.

15 minutes ago, impulse said:

The Skype features I rely on are caller ID set to my US cell number, and a per minute charge as opposed to a spendy subscription for a lot of features I don't need.  I'm still waiting to hear from someone who has actually made the switch on a personal account (as opposed to a business account)

I have just done it and got into "Teams"  - I am currently in BKK. Did a test call and that worked, but there is no mention visible of where my Skype credit (approxEUR26) has gone, how much they have already stolen or how I can use it. Why am I not surprised........

Just looked at CALILO, apparently VOIP and virtual numbers. Got as far as pricing when I read:

"You are agreeing to receive marketing and sales communications, like promotional emails, messages, and calls, from Calilio. Call rates may apply."

Makes Msoft look almost moral................

21 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I loved Skype. I had a dedicated number for incoming and outgoing calls and I was able to call the US unlimited for $60 a year which was great. The only thing that's always been missing from Skype was voicemail. 

Skype was fine - that's why Msoft mess with it, it's in their DNA. Best of all was the number rental worldwide. I quite like the "fanytel" option cos of the name, but turns out it's only US/Canada and England numbers, which is no use  if you run business in places like Europe.

In my case I'm talking only a couple of calls a year, likewise calling from Skype is used only for emergencies, but that's just when you don't want to be fa*ting around trying to buy credits.

Seems like Mytello is the way to go for landlines (inc banks) but over several threads on AN, no-one seems to have solved the imponderable of renting a number in most countries. Would love to hear I am wrong!

7 hours ago, sharot724 said:

More like the America I now know is mostly interested in chaos and expect more not less.

But most of us couldn't give a 4X.

22 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

"Like dipping a pencil in a bucket of warm water...

like throwing sausages up the Dartford Tunnel.....

Hardly any of the 'alternatives' to Skype enable Skype's basic advantage: calls to landlines worldwide. Like many here, I have a sub and rarely use it, but I also have several Skype numbers - with annual sub - that enable me to be "based"  in other cities so someone calling me from (eg) Melbourne thinks it's just a local call.

Does anyone have any serious ideas for an alternative to these numbers? Would appreciate constructive suggestions.

I have had good results a cople of times when having to use a Samsung service centre (in Indonesia and in Malaysia). Now my S21 fe has succumbed to the dreaded thin vertical lines on the screen, so I thought I would check with local "customer service" (in Paknam) before the next step of a factory reset - or taking a hammer to it.

Place is empty save for 3 staff, who make me take a queue ticket before they will talk to me. Not a good look........

I show the phone screen, they immediately go "oh, that. B7,000, you have to go to a mall (?no idea what that meant), and parts take a long time to come." Clearly could not give a ****. A Thai shrug that meant "just go away and leave us alone".

This is an issue affecting many thousands of customers globally, who appear to have a problem with Amoled screens around the 2-year mark. Samsung can't be a#sedto find a fix and their local "service " "personnel" are a disgrace.

I've been on Samsung for decades but tomorrow, I'm off to find any sub-B7,000 phone (even a Chinese one) that might work. Samsung can stick it in the appropriate orifice.

15 hours ago, Captor said:

No, not the first time. And it did not help last tme as well. And not next year too.

But this time it's PAO elections at the weekend.

As it happens, the air-quality indices are showing greater BKK as worse affected than the rest of the country by the filthy air, so there is some sense in it. What the ###, it's a free week's transport. I'm going to explore all the new lines I've never been on. Khlong Bang Phai here we come!

35 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Its been touted for many years .. Birabongse Bhanudej designed a street race around rattotaksin island in the 50s.

Earlier than that, too. A race had been planned for December 1939, but other things interrupted it. See:

https://jaapgrolleman.com/driver-spotlight-the-prince-in-blue/

"Bira also planned to organise a race in his homeland, Thailand, and the inaugural Bangkok Grand Prix was set to be held on the 10th of December 1939, but the war equally destroyed those plans."

4 minutes ago, Cabradelmar said:

Yeah. 100 to 1 foreigner to Thai ratio isn't enough 😂 least authentic Thai experience in the entire country.

First time I went was a week after the tsunami - just wonderful, idyllic, except, of course, for a few terrible parts of the west.

Nowadays, I wouldn't cross the street to go there.

2 hours ago, Cabradelmar said:

He doesn't know. Low level local official talking like he rules the kingdom 😂 

No, give him credit: he wants all visa-holders to enter via Phuket, so we avoid the B300 and Phuket gets more - er - tourists........

41 minutes ago, isaanistical said:

send a verification code – to a phone number that finished years ago. No alternative is offered.

as I said, no alternative was offered

I have a yahoo.com email address which I rarely use. Yesterday, on starting the PC (I get email via Thunderbird, but it appears to be the same if I go direct to yahoo's site), I got a new message from Yahoo demanding I sign in again, and wanting to send a verification code – to a phone number that finished years ago. No alternative is offered.

This email is important only because it's the one I use for Immigration TM47s, etc, (and previously also Lazada, but I have the same view of Lazada as of Immigration, so…). Otherwise I could dispense with it and yahoo.

Is there something up with yahoo? Is there a known way round not having the requisite phone number? And why are they so d@mn obstructive for no apparent reason?

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

MRTA has introduced an EMV Contactless card that offers fare discounts across all MRT lines while seamlessly integrating with other public transport systems, including the Red Line and BMTA buses.

sorry but I flat-out don't believe this.  I have just staggered back from a round-trip requiring 3 of the routes, each way, buying tickets, and NOWHERE is there any hint of a joint card. Details, perhaps? Or is it only availabe in Pattaya......

16 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

I accept that Monday was  King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great Memorial Day and not a Buddha day. Nevertheless, it might have been nice to visit a local restaurant

Well I bought beer in BigC on Monday and we ate and drank at a restaurant (though not in anyone's 'honour'). Monday was not a booze-ban day at all.

As for tomorrow, I was grateful for the warning because these things catch me out. If I know in advance, I don't have to get annoyed. Or impugn someone else's culture.

"Exclude farangs"? Seriously? You just arrived or something?

24 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

And the rainwater is probably colder and better tasting... 

with more of a head on it, although that's just from the pollution.