mgjackson69

I do not know what the hel_l the OP is looking for...but he/she just received another email.

My new mantra: The visa lets you enter the Kingdom, the stamp lets you stay in the Kingdom

The visa doesn't allow you to enter Thailand. It allows you to come to Thailand and ask for permission to stay. You can still be denied entry.

Granted, that.

Your version is more correct...but mine rolls off the tongue much better

How about this? The visa lets you come to Thailand, the stamp lets you stay

A new car, I wouldn't be bothered to drive the exact vehicle that I was buying. For example, if I was buying a Honda Jazz and was not familiar with it, I would be more likely to go to a rental agency and rent that model.

Why?

1) You can drive the car for a couple of days, without some sales critter riding along with you spewing BS.

2) You can drive a model with some miles on it, to get an idea how it will "age".

For a used car, it is clear-cut, at least for me... if I cannot do an extended test drive, I am not buying it.

The problem is: Who gonna pay if have accident on a test drive? Dealers aren't insured in this case.

I do not know the answer to that one. Do you know that to be the case for sure?

If that is the case, then I guess I will never buy a used car from a dealer here.

Would you buy a used car without a test drive?

To the OP: On your related story of buying a new car with the test drive...if it had turned out to be junk, you would have recourse...that is what warranty is for. Stories of one particular unit coming from the factory being a lemon are not so common these days, build quality and QC/QA has improved greatly over the years.

The first wife *may* have some claim on his Social Security survivor's benefits...sorry, I have no detail on that.

It all comes down to the individual, and what will "motivate" them to deal with their problem.

I know AA has helped a lot of people...I went to one meeting with a friend who was going to meetings per court order as part of a DUI conviction. One meeting was enough for me, not thanks.

But that is just me...whatever works for the individual is what matters.

Myself, I quit cold-turkey 155 days ago...no problem.

I would just use a mobile with GPRS/EDGE rather than a card. The very serviceable Nokia 3110c is available for under 4000 THB, and data plans on a month basis for prepaid are reasonably priced.

All this angst and hand-wringing for 200 THB?

The worry has shortened your life by 200 THB already, many times over.

Consider it another cost of being here. They do *NOT* have to let you enter, visa or not. Why argue with them about it.

Scams are motivated by greed.

Someone might argue that they will "jab" a foreigner harder than a local, but that is not racism, just recognition of a potentially more lucrative target.

My new mantra: The visa lets you enter the Kingdom, the stamp lets you stay in the Kingdom

Gary, the wife just asked me..."How many block and how much for one block?"

Could you share those figures, if you have them?

Thanks

BTW, she says you paid the workers too much <shrug>

Short answer...it all belongs to her.

Might you find some relief through the legal system? I suppose it is possible...I would not hold my breath.

I am not a violent person. But if I met someone in a bar with that philosophy, I would have exercise considerable restraint not to use a bottle on his head and a knife on his genitals.

I was thinking almost exactly that same thing...

I think contracting aids through hetro vaginal sex is minimal. I have 2 buddies been coming here 20 years and they both in their seventies. They get juiced up on cialis, Viagra usually double dosage and live at the beer garden BKK Neither has ever used a condom ever and wont go with girls that insist. Their excuse is who cares I'm in my seventies and they both have there yearly medical at bumrungrad. Negative every time. Personally I think there nuts but no disputing the results

Pretty damned selfish of those two &lt;deleted&gt;.

I wonder what other crap besides HIV they are carrying and spreading around.

I have a wife who knows EVERYTHING.

<ack> - Don't we all?

I end up walking off from most projects if she insists on supervising me.

<ack><ack>

Usually I just have to set the ground rules, how it will be done and the budget.

And if it is not done to my specs, it will be redone, but the budget does not change. It only took one time, where the wife did not check with me about something, and she ended up dipping into her bank for a couple thousand baht to redo something.

I have a wall issue looming right now in Nong Hin. All of a sudden we need a wall at our house where Nong Duean lives. I asked the reason, I was told "because neighbor make something, take place we".

The last time I was in Nong Hin, we all went over to said house. Two sisters + mom. The sister who lives there and the one who lives next door, plus an assorted nephew or two.

Nobody knows how to read the chanote, including me. They were futzing around with a tape measure, trying to find the corners of the property...amusing, that was.

I still am not clear on what "neighbor put". I think it might be a post that was used to string the power wire from the "government pole" to the neighbor's house.

I said, "We need to have a survey done so we know where the wall belongs."

More chatter.

Wife: "Mom tell, not do survey. Cost money for survey and then have to court to make neighbor move something. Mai bpen rai, can let neighbor take little bit, not make problem."

Me: "Just take the chanote over and give him the entire property then."

Wife: "Mai dai."

More chatter.

Me: "I do not care about problem with neighbor. If I pay for the wall, we will have a survey done and the wall will be put in the proper place. Otherwise, I will not pay for it."

More chatter.

Wife: "Mai bpen rai, can wait til next time."

The project is on hold.

I figure it is no big thing...the house has been there for 28 years with no wall, it will survive a bit longer without.

Based on the additional information, I would modify my response.

Give it a try solo. If they need to talk to her, you *might* be able to have the nice official give her a call.

I know of one instance where the police were trying to get the "accused" do a breathalyzer, that person kept refusing.

That person's "helper", who had not had any alcohol for at least two days, did the breathalyzer, it registered .08

FWIW, YMMV

The best advice given to me was "don't let a Thai know you speak or understand the Thai language"...

Yes, absolutely so...

I was on a site in Chiang Mai a few years ago with one of our local Thai guys from BKK. He and the site manager were conversing in Thai as I was "driving" the keyboard. I was sort of following their conversation, maybe getting half of it. I heard the site manager ask if "the farang can understand Thai". The response was (paraphrasing again) "he can understand some but speaks only a little bit".

After that, the conversation switched to mostly English...

Clean

Quiet

Internet

Ample Parking

Food available in hotel or nearby

Coffee service in room (kettle and packets)

Reasonable rates

"Guest"-friendly

How about "verbing" nouns?

Examples:

"While I am on that project in <other country>, I will office at the local <my company> site" or "I am currently officing at <xyz>".

And now we are starting to see the "nouning" of verbs:

"<company's> printers will help you to minimize your spend on consumables".

"Through strict cost-saving measures, we have reduced our monthly travel spend by 15%".

RE: the quote from the website:

First of all, it is a very poorly worded, a poor translation from Thai to English.

Second of all, it is incorrect.

My more cynical side has to wonder if that website might give erroneous "free" information, to cause someone some problems, for which they then might turn to an "agent" to help them sort...

> "...so they either dont know the answer or just like to make smart ass coments to look good..."

Huh?

I failed to see a single "smart ass coment [sic]" in any of the replies to this thread.

I would say that *you* are the ass, for asking a question, then slagging on the responders because the answers are not what you want to hear.

Go talk to "Tony"...his office is across Tanon Wittayu from the USA Embassy. I hear he can guarantee any visa to any country...

GID = "GPS Intermediate Driver"

From the FAQ on GPS2Blue website:

"The display of the longitude, latitude and LED only works when you use the GID port. GID means "GPS Intermediate Driver" (also named "Windows Mobile GPS server"). GID is available since Windows Mobile 5. You can activate it in the settings of the PDA (check "Manage GPS automatically"). With GID, you can share GPS data between several applications. To use GID, you have also to use the COM port associated with it."

Take a look here -> http://users.skynet.be/hofinger/GPS2Blue.html

There is some info here also -> http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=55463

Good luck

A new car, I wouldn't be bothered to drive the exact vehicle that I was buying. For example, if I was buying a Honda Jazz and was not familiar with it, I would be more likely to go to a rental agency and rent that model.

Why?

1) You can drive the car for a couple of days, without some sales critter riding along with you spewing BS.

2) You can drive a model with some miles on it, to get an idea how it will "age".

For a used car, it is clear-cut, at least for me... if I cannot do an extended test drive, I am not buying it.

I will assume that you are talking about an "Extension of Stay based on Marriage", not a "visa".

I am not sure if it is a absolute requirement or not, but your wife needs to go with you...the nice people at Immigration quite likely will want to talk to her.

And do you not want a Thai-speaking person with you, whom you can trust, when negotiating the labyrinth that is Suan Phlu?

Seems like this "family duty business" should have priority, for that day anyway.

Up to you...

I would not go on the "Enter Before" day, and risk being turned back.

Go the day before, it is only one day...not worth the potential hassle, to me anyway.