mgjackson69

The Nokia Lumia 520 is quad band, it will work fine in USA, as long as it is an open market (unlocked) phone.

Are you really going to pester your landlord for a light bulb?

Motor bike gangs have been outlawed in Queensland, and other states are looking at this now. The crime rate has fallen and drug distribution slowed, according to press reports.

The German teenager was not alone in being bashed. A year or two back, one bikie was beaten and killed while about to check in for a flight.

I am curious, under the aforementioned Queensland law, what constitutes a ”motor bike gang”? In the loosest interpretation, it could be a few guys who like to get together for a ride.

Mr Ward seems to be just another attention whore, famous for being famous.

We have similar ilk in my country also...known as the Kardashians

My mother's house in USA has always been a ”shoes off” house.

It surely helps to keep the house cleaner, and why the hell does one need shoes on in the house?

Due to being 'Mom trained' in this regard, I was removing my shoes when entering anyone's home long before my first trip to Thailand.

Even in USA, Hertz/Avis/et al would rather not do one-way rentals. Oftentimes, they conveniently have no cars available if you request a one-way.

The solution? Rent local, drive to your destination, drop the car off at the local office. They do not like it, and you will be charged for the mileage, which you would have been charged anyway.

I have used this method several times due to canceled flights, and once after being stuck in Monterrey, Mexico after the events of 11 September 2001 (that one required a car hire to take me to Laredo, Texas first, then a Hertz rental local, turned in at Omaha, Nebraska).

There may be additional fees in other countries, YMMV.

Interesting idea. I use one way rentals quite a bit in the UK. Do you think it will work outside of the USA?

Surely if you show up at a different branch office than where you rented the car, and say ”Here's your car!”, they will accept it. The unknown, for other countries, is what additional fees they might hit you with. In my experIence, in USA, the only additional charge was mileage. That may have changed by now,and could very well be different in other countries.

Before I bought my pickup truck here, I rented quite a few times from Petchaburi Carrent. I still receive emails from them touting 'specials' for one-way rentals. Usually these are either BKK to CMI, or vice-versa. I think they are using customers to ferry new cars up to Chiang Mai, or older stock back down to Bangkok for 'retirement' from the fleet.

The wife and I lived in that area for a while (an apartment in Nawamin Soi 88 ). I liked the area, there are plenty of shops etc, and the wife was happy to move me out of Phra Khanong (too many bar girls). And it is very convenient to Suvarnabhumi.

Even in USA, Hertz/Avis/et al would rather not do one-way rentals. Oftentimes, they conveniently have no cars available if you request a one-way.

The solution? Rent local, drive to your destination, drop the car off at the local office. They do not like it, and you will be charged for the mileage, which you would have been charged anyway.

I have used this method several times due to canceled flights, and once after being stuck in Monterrey, Mexico after the events of 11 September 2001 (that one required a car hire to take me to Laredo, Texas first, then a Hertz rental local, turned in at Omaha, Nebraska).

There may be additional fees in other countries, YMMV.

It *must* be racism...Google told him so :-)

It said midnight on 14th until 2am on 15th (26 hours) if using an ATM of a different kind to that of your card.

Where did it mention the times for ALL ATMs? May have missed it.

Here on planet earth in the Kingdom of Thailand there will be a nation wide shut down of ATMs for a period of two hours from midnight on 14th Friday to 2am on 15th Saturday = 2 hours.

Are you on another time system?

I believe that you are correct about the timeline....midnight is the start of the day, not the end. I cannot imagine that a planned event like this would be scheduled to last 26 hours. The article got the timeline wrong, big surprise there, given the fear-mongering, misleading headline.

I also believe that you are wrong about "nation wide shut down of ATMs"...you need to read the article, not the headline.

The article, once you get into the guts of it, clearly states that it is interbank ATM transactions that will be affected...e.g. you are withdrawing funds from a different bank than that whose ATM you are using.

Don't know why they bother running away.

They are always eventually picked up at their own residence upcountry, or a relatives house.

I think the running away phenomenon has two components:

1) The cultural aspect of going away from anything uncomfortable

2) The desire on the part of the driver to avoid the beatdown from the angry mob that forms and decides he is in the wrong

Yes, agree that those are 2 of the reasons. There is also a third one though, being time is needed to rid the body of any substance (drugs, alcohol) that is illegal while driving.

Your third addition is a valid point...that is one that is not unique to Thailand, by the way.

I *might* have used a similar action in the way back days ...granted, it was a single vehicle crash on a remote rural road and there was nobody with me.

My preference would be for a pickup truck. But that is what I have always driven, in 38+ years of being a licensed driver, and even a bit before that.

Opinion alert: The arguments about "crash safety" are nonsensical to me. Any modern vehicle that is not 'crash-worthy' is going to be a POS that I would never buy anyway. I am not overly concerned about decimal differences in crash tests.

Likewise, the 'maneuverability' argument does not hold much water with me. Unless you are talking about a 'city car' such as a SmartCar or the like, there is not really much dimensional difference between a mid-range sedan and the scaled-down pickup trucks sold here.

All that said, my preferred vehicle for inside BKK is a motorbike.

Don't know why they bother running away.

They are always eventually picked up at their own residence upcountry, or a relatives house.

I think the running away phenomenon has two components:

1) The cultural aspect of going away from anything uncomfortable

2) The desire on the part of the driver to avoid the beatdown from the angry mob that forms and decides he is in the wrong

I take the opposite approach than the OP...I carry a moderately expensive pen and do not lose it.

My wife gave me a nice Waterman pen and pencil set (engraved with my initials even) circa 1992. I still have the writing instruments and use them daily...that wife has had the "ex" prefix for the past 8 years.

Refills can be a bit troublesome. I make sure I have at least two in my kit.

The only trouble I ever had was when some <deleted> at a customer site picked up the pen and pulled it apart (not unscrewed, pulled), rendering it useless. It was around my birthday and my son bought me another Waterman as a "stand-in". Subsequently I was able to disassemble and reassemble the original pen and it works fine again.

Thanks ubonjoe for clarifying.

Just show both passports on entry to use your re-entry permit in your old passport. Immigration will stamp you into the country in your new passport.

Then you will need go immigration to have your stamps transferred to your new passport. Dependent on which immigration office you have to use you may need a letter from UK embassy stating you got a new passport.

ubonjoe, is Thai Immigration transferring extension of stay stamps to new passports again?

I seem to recall that extensions of stay were no longer being transferred to new passports; that a new extension would need to applied for.

Or perhaps I am confused

Just show both passports on entry to use your re-entry permit in your old passport. Immigration will stamp you into the country in your new passport.

Then you will need go immigration to have your stamps transferred to your new passport. Dependent on which immigration office you have to use you may need a letter from UK embassy stating you got a new passport.

ubonjoe, is Thai Immigration transferring extension of stay stamps to new passports again?

I seem to recall that extensions of stay were no longer being transferred to new passports; that a new extension would need to applied for.

Or perhaps I am confused

What a surprise...the scare-mongering news media gets it wrong again.

The headline is very misleading.

Costas.....i envy you.

I live in Korat, and the immigration office where i have to report to,

is one of the most unfriendly, and non helping office's possibly in the whole country.

I know....i have choice's to move else where, but my gf and her family live here.

Oh the thing's we do for the love of a thai girl!

Any way, im happy you had such a good experience there.

All hail Costas....

Cheer's my friend.

P.S. I have this terrible itch in my croch, but i just cant seem to scratch it.....lol.

My experience at Korat Immigration has always been pretty good, through 7 Extensions of Stay, a few 90-day reports (I usually do not stay in country that long), and a couple of Certificates of Residency.

Surely some visits have been better than others, and I do see a bit of degradation of service this year; it also seems that their workload is a lot higher this year as well. I have also noticed a bit more of the queue jumpers with a stack of passports and paperwork...there really should be a "private" desk to deal with them.

My only personal comparison is with Suan Phlu in Bangkok...compared with that mess, Korat is great.

This most surely is a scam.

If you see where the link goes, I suspect it is nothing to do with any hotel.

The OP took his experience with *his* bank, and based on some hearsay from a person inside his bank, extrapolated that to all US Banks.

There are two sorts of people who don't get scammed in Thailand.

1. Those who never understand what's happening.

2. Those who are essentially broke.

You forgot number 3. The ones that keep their wits about them.

I don't say they haven't tried but the same thing happens in my country and your country and any other expats country. Why continually pick on Thailand?

You can keep your wit,BUT

Say you bought a tshirt for 200 baht, while 3 shops down it is sold for 180.

Guess what? you have been scammed

To make matters even more funnier, both shops are owned by the same person

It does not have to be "in your face" scam to be scammed, so to claim you have never been scammed = you living in total and utter oblivion.

Paying 200 THB for a shirt that you might be able to buy somewhere else is *not* a scam...the seller is free to price his merchandise however he wants, and the buyer is free to buy or not buy.

Likewise, if you go to a national park, and the sign clearly states that admission for Thais is 50 THB and addmission for farang is 500 THB, that is *not* a scam...you are free to pay, or not.

Expedia might not like that your request is originating from Thailand.

If you have access to such, try using a VPN based in USA and see if your transaction goes through.

I am assuming that you are here on an Extension of Stay, not a "retirement visa" (there is no such thing).

You should be able to get the Letter of Residence from the same Thai Immigration office where you do your yearly extension. At least that is the case in my "local" Immigration office (Korat/Dan Kwian).

I have used a Letter of Residence twice for renewing Thai drivers licenses, and once when applying for the yellow Tabien Baan.

I cannot speak to the specifics as far as documentation needed for a person on a retirement extension of stay to obtain the Letter of Residence; my extension of stay is based on marriage. My requirements were:

- My passport with photocopies of: the photo page, current permission to stay stamp, TM6, current entry stamp

- Wife's ID card

- Wife's tabien baan

- Marriage certificate

My original Thai drivers licenses were obtained using a work permit. That is also how I opened my bank account here.

The letter from the poo yai might help at Immigration; I am not sure. But I doubt it will be of any use for your other purposes.

Also, I do not believe that you can get one Letter of Residence and use it for multiple purposes...at least in the case of obtaining the drivers licenses, and applying for the yellow tabien baan, the Letter is not returned to you.