mgjackson69

I responded to a similar thread a few weeks ago.

It piqued my curiosity, so I did a bit of experimentation.

Zoom out, then scroll over to USA and zoom in.

Viola, it is in English.

Zoom out, scroll down to South America, then zoom in.

Voila, Spanish...or Portuguese, if you are over Brazil.

There is no language setting, the maps are made as local for each country.

I'm not so sure about that. OK, so you get the train to Makkasan Station and get your bags down to street level. Next you want to go to a hotel in one of the lower Sukhumvit Rd sois, so what do you do? you call a taxi and load your bags in !! At certain times of the day Petchburi Rd, Ratchada Rd. Asoke, Sukhumvit Rd, and Soi 3 are traffic choked. It could take longer to get to your hotel from Makkasan Station (which is a little further North than Petchburi) than it does to get from the airport to the station. IMO many people will still choose the taxi from the airport straight to their hotel option.

Or ride the train to the interchange with the North Line (Phaya Thai I think), change lines and ride back to Sukhumvit. Further to travel, but probably quicker.

As far as schlepping your bags goes...don't carry so much shit with you. Unbelievable the amount of crap some people travel with...

I can see that the BTS gates are not luggage friendly. However, there is the nice "BTS cop" always standing there who will be happy to open the gate for you, and help you get your luggage through.

The train line from the airport is not going to kill off the taxi business there. It will reduce it some.

Using the Nokia phone as a modem with the Nokia PC suite is dog-nuts simple.

Connect the phone to the computer, USB or Bluetooth...although I dont know why anyone would use Bluetooth for this, unless you do not have the cable and do not want to buy one (khee niouw )

PC Suite should pop up, show you are connected.

Then click the "Connect to the Internet" button, globe with two arrows.

That is it, no futzing with setting up a connection on the PC.

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TrueMove (Orange) is slow compared to AIS...I have not used DTAC, but have heard it is comparable or better than AIS.

Rich, assuming that you have been using the TrueMove SIM for voice for a while and do not want to miss calls, just put Call Forward Unconditional ("Forward All Calls") on the True SIM to the AIS/DTAC SIM, then plug in your DTAC or AIS SIM. No need to swap back and forth. Then transition your friends/family/etc over to using your new number.

If you really want to keep the old number and not do as above, go to Tesco-Lotus or any number of other places and buy another 3110c, use it as your modem.

Having used an AirCard for about 2.5 years (now has been deactivated), I would not recommend going that route. The phone using GPRS/EDGE (hopefully 3G someday soon ) will give you the same or better speeds, the device (phone vs aircard) costs less, is useful in its own right as a standalone phone, and you will have connectivity anywhere you have a signal...not so with the aircard.

Edit: fingers faster than brain...

It is a MULTI entry visa. Presumably what you requested from the Embassy.

You will certainly have paid for it.

You can use it as many times as you wish, up to the last date.

Each entry will get you a 90 day stamp in your passport,

even if you enter on the 28th September 2009 making the

total possible stay almost 15 months.

Correct...that is why it states "Enter Before..."

The visa allows you to apply for entry...the stamp lets you stay here.

"Before" means just that...

No ambiguity there.

The loan is 230,000 baht. So not a small sum of money, if I marry her later there will be no sin sot that is for sure.

If you gift the money so that their debt on the property is fully paid off, I wonder if your prospective in-laws could then go to a finance broker and borrow on their asset?

Instead of paying off their debt, it would be almost like handing over cash, to be used at their discretion.

Absolutely they could, and it is likely they would do so...and a few years from now you can pay it again.

I had a similar situation, albeit a smaller sum of money. Young sister had borrowed 50000 THB on 7 rai ... the place where she lives with Mom and Dad, it was in her name, Mom had given it to her to start with. She paid a bit of it and could not pay the rest. The lender was being very good about it, but it was to the point where they would have to foreclose. I told my wife I would clear the loan, but we needed to do something so it could not happen again. The young sister agreed to put the land back into Mom's name. Problem solved.

It is the same visa.

I have "some of each" in my passport as well. I believe that they changed the verbiage from "Expiry date" to "Enter before" to (supposedly) clarify when you can no longer enter.

"Expiry date" could bring the question..."Is it still good on this date or no?"

"Enter before" is clear and concise.

Too often we only hear the bad news, the horror stories...doubtless some of them are true, some are exaggerated, some are made up of whole cloth.

For those of us who are in successful long-term relationships with Thai women, former bar-ladies or not, we know what we have and appreciate it, same as we would appreciate a good relationship in our home country.

A person can find countless examples of anecdotal evidence to support their viewpoint, whichever side of the fence they happen to be on.

Not all barladies are mercenary, not all office ladies are "good girls", not all farang are fat, smelly, and filthy rich.

Not being familiar with those particular apps, the best that I can offer is to dig into the configurations.

Look for someplace that you can explicitly specify the internet connection to use, and set it to the name you configured for True GPRS Internet.

Good luck.

Not your story, not your problem

You might just be surprised how many people are keeping an eye on those children, without you knowing anything about it.

Leave it alone...

Not your problem, not your story....

Note that the OP mentioned that the pregnancy was "unexpected to him, not to her" (I am paraphrasing). He also mentions they where having "some problems" before the pregnancy/birth.

So we see that Thai women and Western women are the same in at least one regard...if they think the man is going to leave, they will get pregnant thinking that will keep him there.

They have some problems to work on, that have nothing to do with the recent birth.

Update ... 174 days alcohol-free

Most Thai's have no idea of compound interest calculations - when I point out that 20,000B compounded at 18% PA, calculated monthly at 1.5% per month, for twenty five years roughly equates to about 2,000,000 Baht, they simply do not believe me.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Absolutely correct...to many Thais (and many farang as well, my younger brother being one), the thought process is like this...

"OK, I am borrowing 2400 to be paid back in 24 equal installments, one each month. So each payment will be 100, and when I make 24 payments of 100 it will be paid off."

Outside a formal business arrangement, and especially if dealing with family, a loan to a Thai is not a loan...it is a gift.

Since she has a child, you would be obligated to pay no sinsod. That is not to say that you should pay nothing. The sinsod is not about buying the daughter, it is showing your willingness and ability to support her, and to help her family.

There is no set amount. If your prospective wife is telling you an amount, that is what she figures it will take to make a good show. And if your in-laws are jai dee, they might even turn around and give the sinsod back to you, later...it is about show for them as well as their daughter.

Mine worked out to about 300,000...but it was paying off the wife's house, and taking care of some other financial matters for Mom.

Thus far we have not had the "auspicious wedding" ceremony in the village...we might do that later, maybe not.

The costs of the wedding and the party come from the sinsod.

To answer the original question...YES

Somehow I won't feel very secure when I go to the airport - with security forces like that in force.

As opposed to the excellent, incorruptible airport security present in...? Aren't the US TSA employees losers off various other law enforcement branches?

No, TSA are wannabe cops who can't qualify to be a real police officer...not that police are so smart either.

TSA are only slightly smarter than that other brain trust...prison guards. You know, those people who voluntarily put themselves in prison as a career.

It is unlikely that you can speed up the procedure.

Yes, 30 days is 30 days, autonomat

Firstly the local office has to check you out, which will include a home visit.

"May" include a home visit...mine did not

No problem if you are away, but tell your wife to have the wedding photos

around for inspection. They usually ask for a local resident to confirm that

you do live at the house as man and wife.

As above, none of this on my recent extension...but best to be prepared

After that the application is passed to Bangkok.

If it is not complete in one month they will give you a new date to

appear at immigration.

If you leave the country whilst your application is being considered, then

do make sure you get a re-entry permit to keep your visa alive,

or you will have to start all over again.

Buy the re-entry permit when you make your first visit...save a trip

I wonder if anyone ever replies?

Yes, that is why the keep on sending these things, only one fool needed, and the trouble to find that fool is just sending mails.

It is a kind of having your own website earnings.....but slightly different....

Those that reply, other than people winding them up for fun, are either stupid or greedy, or both....

Several years ago the Catholic Diocese in Omaha NE got taken for several 10s of thousand dollars, chasing after a purported several million.

I laughed my ass off at that one...

Edit: forgot this -> som nom naah

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I like words that sound like what they mean.

Some examples:

belligerent

bombastic

bloviate

blatant

obtuse

The current TM8 form "APPLICATION FOR RE-ENTRY PERMIT INTO THE KINGDOM" specifies "APPLICATION FEE FOR IS 1,000 BAHT PER SINGLE AND 3,800 BAHT PER MULTIPLE".

You definitely need the photo.

Copy of the passport, I do not recall needing one. But why not take a copy....better to have and not need than to need and not have.

If you want to have fun, read the laws of your own country and I am sure you will find a lot more things to question.

--

Maestro

No doubt...silly and inconsistent laws exist everywhere

Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees

I called KL and they said :" the multi entries visa non Immigrant O is issued only to work permit owners. For all others a single entry is issued"

That was yesterday!! i explain all i could, maried.... they will give me a single only.

That was my experience at the Chicago USA Thai Consulate also...single-entry 90-day. "You have to apply for extension in Thailand".