mgjackson69

Take a look on tucows.com...you should be able to find something that will work

Surely the OP is not the only one in the area affected by this.

So, gather the neighbors, get a bunch of sledgehammers.....

One thing that is guaranteed *not* to get you any relief is whining about it in this forum.

Thanks all for your ideas.

Unfortunately, where we live there's oodles of grass and very few cows so I don't think it's saleable.

I knew goats are out of the question as they eat everything.

Anyone ever tried horses?

H

Horses will strip the bark from the trees...they love to chew on wood for some reason

Our 12 yr old daughter is off school for 2 months, and their summer program is not suitable. She would like to watch TV and MSN boys all day. I'd like to put her to work, but her Mother thinks she should do something constructive. Anybody have any suggestions

Work is "something constructive"

You need to get an affidavit letter from your embassy certifying your current address.

No you don't!

A letter from the embassy is one way of doing it but it is expensive and takes time to process. A residence certificate is another way. I got mine in Korat immigration, it took 20 minutes and cost 9 baht, (photocopies). I just showed my passport and gave them my address, they did not look at any other documents.

Nidge

Nidge,

How recently did you do this? And what exactly did you ask for?

Finally, where did you get your Thai DL?

I never called the Elite Card a "scam"...I did refer to it as a "rip-off"...maybe the same, maybe not.

Up to you if you buy it or not...I personally think it offers very little value for the huge cost. For most of us here, I would venture that 1 million THB (now 1.5 million, with reduction in benefits as well) *is* a large amount of money.

But I am in agreement, I do not see how it could be called a "scam"...and the argument about the location of the bank is just silly.

Here in Chok Chai, my TT&T service has been garbage to two weeks...line up/line down...maybe stays up for two minutes, maybe 10 minutes, maybe 1/2 hour, usually about 5 minutes up. Then line down, and it comes back with the address of my modem on a completely different IP network. Hmmmmmm....

And usually degraded performance as well during this time.

Today, right after noontime, I noticed that it was staying up longer. I have been monitoring it via the GUI into the modem/router, it has been up for 4 hours 36 minutes, and working at normal speed, as it was before.

They must have found something in their network...

Go online to linksys dot com, technical support, search for WRT54GL, download the user guide for your wireless router

I read on another forum that Areca Lodge in Pattaya has a racist letting policy. Has anyone experienced this?

I know some guest houses and condo won't rent to Thais! I had a friend who lived in a condo owned by an Indian. The owner would not allow any thais to come in even though they were to friends of people who lived there. Needless to say my friend quickly moved out.

Hmmmm...but only white Westerners can be "racist"...nobody else is.

I thought there was some new law where U.S. citizens must use their passport for flights entering or leaving the U.S.? It has to do with some homeland security check thing. My friend had a problem once, when checking in to a flight on the U.S. the check-in counter types in the U.S. passport number. In the immigration queue the flight info and name is already linked from check-in counter so if a Thai passport is shown the info doesn't link up. I just pay the money and get a thai visa on my U.S. passport with multiple entry. Usually you can get a 1 year renewable visa no questions asked just by showing you Thai ID card. However for local flights I just use a Thai passport in and out.

The suggestion was to show both passports to the *airline* when checking in, to show that you meet entry requirements for the destination. But use the USA passport to *leave* USA, Thai passport to enter/leave Thailand, USA passport to re-enter USA.

Some individuals of all nationalities, enthnicities, skin colors, however you want to group them, stink.

There are cultural and dietary differences that make stinky individuals of certain "groups" more or less offensive to those of other "groups".

Bottom line, some people STINK!

I will be traveling soon to Thailand, and while I am there I must have internet access. I will be bringing my Dell laptop running Ubuntu 7.04 and my Nokia 6610i mobile phone, with a SIM card from 1-2-Call, and pay-as-I-go service.

I hope that you don't have a "locked" phone. If you do, there's a good chance you can get it unlocked, but I don't know what that will do to your T-Mobile settings. Furthermore it appears that the 6610i uses Series 40 OS. Those don't play that nice with Linux when connected via USB. However, you can pick up a pretty cheap EDGE based phone in Thailand and it should have the connector cable right in the box.

As for my destination in Thailand, it is the "middle of nowhere" in Korat, where I am quite far from anything resembling an internet cafe. Thus once in Thailand, I need to pretty much need to have all the configuration files for PPP (or whatever) in place because I won't be able to conduct "google research" while I am there to sort issues out.

Ask and you shall recieve:

Operator: - AIS

GPRS APN: - internet

Username: - {blank}

Password: - {blank}

DNS: - 202.183.255.20, 202.183.255.21

Before I leave the US, I hope to procure the USB connector cable to connect my phone to the laptop, and test to see if I can use GPRS with my pay-as-I-go T-Mobile provider. If this is not possible, then perhaps I would like to try using an ISP like NetZero, which provides dial-up internet service.

IIRC, it's extremely difficult to set up a dial-up over a cell phone. I've looked into it before, and to my recollection, since the phone is digital, and the ISP is expecting an analouge connection, it doesn't work too well.

So my questions are:

1. Should I rely on a Thai ISP for service, and if so, how do I setup my laptop to use the mobile phone?

or

2. Can I use GPRS with the pay-as-I-go 1-2-Call service?

If you have access to xDSL and can get a modem that is a real modem and not a Windows based POS, that's the way to go. If on the other hand you wish to always have access, even when traveling from "Swampy" airport, the GPRS/EDGE is the better solution.

Please suggest which is best (speed/reliability/cost are all notable factors), and if possible, any helpful advice on how to set this stuff up to work. I have installed "kppp" on my system, but it has been nearly 10 years since I have relied on dial-up, and so once again as in the early days, I am unfamiliar on how to set things up.

I'd recommend getting a cheap Series 60 phone once you got to Thailand. They're easily recognised by Linux and set up. Another option, if you're set on using your phone, and it works in Thailand, is to follow this link which describes how to set up a modem connection via IRDA.

TIA.

When "dialing" to AIS then, using your mobile as the modem, what is the dialing string that you use on the PC side?

I have since found a way to get a multi-entry non-imm O visa that costs me about $2500 to obtain every 15 months (plus another $200 or so in visa runs).

Actually, the $2500 would likely be spent anyway on a vacation back home in any case...so the actual visa cost is $175 and another $60 for return overnite mail.

As for our friend NotNew2You, if he has found a way to obtain the visa that he wants by working within the system, more power to him. In fact, I really do not care if he is doing something underhanded to obtain said visa

My wording was a little less than artful...just to make it clear...I qualified under one of the numerous categories for a non-imm "O" visa and was able to find a counsel who agreed with me (that's the trick I think). The mention of the $2500 cost is not any tea money but the cost for the trip home every 15 months to get another visa.

That is how I read your post...$175 for the visa, $60 for postage, $2265 for airline and incidentals on the trip.

And that is the trick... to interpret the rules to your benefit, and find someone to agree with you. There is nothing nefarious about that. Hence my comment about working within the system.

The 40k requirement is for extension of stay - they may well not require the previous years proof of tax payments but believe he will have to show the income when application for the one year extension of stay takes place.

That was correct in my case. The affidavit from the US Embassy was sufficient. They did not want to look at the papers we brought from the bank.

Same-same for me.

I had payroll records for 2007 and the first half of 2008 with me. They were not asked for and I did not offer them.

For those without the above financial reasons for coming to Thailand, many like myself have gotten sick of it really fast, even though I thought it would be sublime to live here when I first came.

There are a lot dull farangs out there that seem to be constantly suprised and enchanted by Thailand even though they've been here 20 years or something. I've found the country to be really monotonous and predictable after a year, and now it's just a hot, smelly place with self-absorbed people. I fear that in earlier times, I would have been a benevolent colonist rather than a siamophile...

This begs the question, why are you still here (if indeed you are)?

There is nothing special about securing your laptop in Thailand that you would not do anywhere else.

Do whatever you are currently doing...if that meets *your* requirements for peace of mind, it will be no different here.

I would submit that if you are thinking that you need to do something extraneous for security of your laptop here, then you are not doing enough there now.

Our good friend lopburi3 raises a good point...when she checks in at the airline (on both ends), show both passports. That will show that entry requirements for the destination are covered.

I see a place has some ATVs just north of Chok Chai a few kilometers. I have never stopped to inquire, but I think they would be just the thing for the farm, as they are in USA.

I had a Bombardier Outlander 400 4x4 in USA...very nice machine. The ex-wife still has it

Nothing illegal about it....

She should leave USA on her USA passport. I have heard that this is USA law, that a USA passport holder must use that passport to leave or enter USA.

Enter Thailand on Thai passport. She would have no need for any visa or anything else for Thailand.

Leave Thailand on Thai passport. She would now have matching stamps for in/out of Thailand.

Enter USA on USA passport. Again, USA law.

She definitely should not enter on one passport and leave on the other.

I do not understand your statement: "If she leaves with Thai passport, it wouldn't have US visa there."

Because you are probably not Indian.

Correct, sir, I am not Indian.

But if I went to this particular establishment and I was told, "No room for farang", I would not have a problem with it...just go to the next place.

If some business does not want my money, fine.

I personally have no problem with it.

The way that I figure it, the owner should have the right to rent or not rent to whoever he wants, for whatever reason.

Mind you, I am not saying that I *agree* with that sentiment...but it is not my property either.

Thanks for the replies, guys...good information all.

About my first action will be to just go over the bike from end to end, see what works and does not. From the little bit that I rode it, it is in dire need of a tune-up...whatever that entails on a two-stroke, I need to learn. It seems a bit lacking in power and will not rev too much, sputters. But it does start easily and idles well.

I do know of a local shop in the village that works on two strokes...the guy rents the place from my mother-in-law. So I will likely take it to him for a tuneup...but it would be good to go armed with a bit of knowledge also.

The rear wheel does not roll freely, but it does not feel/sound like a bearing problem, so I am thinking that the rear brake is not completely releasing. But at the same time, the rear brake disk does not appear to have been overly hot, so it may be "temporarily" stuck.

Oh yeah...the front brake does not work at all. One of the screws holding the cover on the front master cylinder is munged up, and the sight glass is cloudy, so I could not check the fluid level...I am guessing empty.

On the plus side, it does appear to have two nearly-new tires, and the chain and rear sprocket look good...I did not pull the cover to see the front sprocket.

Cosmetically, it looks like it has sat outside a lot, the paint is fairly well faded. Bodywork and windscreen are missing some screws, the seat needs recovered. One mirror has the glass broken. The sheet metal is in good shape, not beat up.

Electrically I am not sure. I did not check the lights, although the turn signals and indicators do work, and the neutral indicator works. The tachometer seems to work; the speedometer does not. The horn does not work, but I am not sure if that is a problem with the button or the wiring.

So it looks like I have a lot to do. The good thing is, there is no rush...I have another motorcycle here and my truck, so I am not on foot.

Thanks again for the replies...keep them coming. I am sure that I will have many more questions as this adventure continues.

I too seriously considered the program about a year ago...just before they raised the cost as it would surely have eased my visa status for the next decade till I reached 50. At 1M it made economic sense but when they raised it to 1.5 the numbers no longer made it economically worthwhile, as I was just interested in the visa privileges.

I have since found a way to get a multi-entry non-imm O visa that costs me about $2500 to obtain every 15 months (plus another $200 or so in visa runs). It works for me and is much cheaper than $ 44,000 up-front!

Actually, the $2500 would likely be spent anyway on a vacation back home in any case...so the actual visa cost is $175 and another $60 for return overnite mail.

Well yes, Good point. however, what happens when they crack down on the non-imm O visas etc like they did with the tourist visas ? It seems these days that people are just buying a non-imm O to remain in Thailand for 15 months as a tourist. That can't last forever and no doubt will go the same way that the 90 stamps went for people abusing the system.

Isn't it illegal to apply for and obtain a visa that your not using for the purpose that it was issued ?

It is *already* getting harder to get the 1-year multi-entry Non-O visas. For marriage to a Thai national, for example, almost every embassy/consulate seems to be issuing 90-day single entry visas, advising the applicant to apply for extension of stay inside Thailand.

As for our friend NotNew2You, if he has found a way to obtain the visa that he wants by working within the system, more power to him. In fact, I really do not care if he is doing something underhanded to obtain said visa (not that I am implying any such thing)....It is no skin off my ass either way.

I know what *I* need to do to meet the requirements to extend my stay, and I have no problem with doing so.

in my world anyway, k = 1024 ) ...

You must be in that wacky digital binary world..... You must really enjoy your humorous bytes or smaller bits then....

Yep...binary, octal, and hexadecimal

When I really want a challenge, I try explaining that to the Thai wife

I hear you there. When I need a challenge I try explaining to my wife why the USA has a noticable Summer and Winter time compared to Thailand.

Or, why it is not the same time in USA as it is in Thailand

in my world anyway, k = 1024 ) ...

You must be in that wacky digital binary world..... You must really enjoy your humorous bytes or smaller bits then....

Yep...binary, octal, and hexadecimal

When I really want a challenge, I try explaining that to the Thai wife