JaiDamJungLoei

Rosetta Stone works good if you can stick with it. It is boring and repetitious, but if used regularly you will learn to speak Thai good enough to start talking to Thai people - where you will get your real education. The Thai language disc only comes with version 2 of the run software, which is very old and runs in a small VGA window. I usually change my screen resolution to 640x480 when using it. It also makes Vista look like XP when it's running, the video requirements are too old to run in Vista properly. The DRM on the CD is very sensitive. Minor scratches and finger prints will render the Thai language disk useless, unless they can be cleaned or polished out. The disc can be copied with the right hardware and software, but it's not easy. Google lists many forums with tips and requirements.

It is impossible to learn to read Thai from Rosetta Stone, unless you have a basic understanding of the written language and pronunciation. I recommend Teach Yourself Thai (book and CDs) to start, with Rosetta Stone a follow on to improve your comprehension - if you can stand to use it for long term. I found Rosetta Stone in a mall for $75, which I think is an OK price. I don't think it's worth the $200+ list price.

Pimsleur Thai is good for spoken Thai, but is also boring and repetitious to use. I can find the first 10 lessons (out of 30) on CDs in book stores in the US for $30.

I find the best Thai teachers are kids. I learn more now from my two year old grandson than I ever have been able to get from my wife in seven years of marriage. My 4, 5,6 year old nieces and nephews and their friends love to spend hours teaching me Thai words and phrases. Reading children's books out loud with a Thai is also a great way to practice reading Thai.

FedEx and UPS will pay whatever it takes to avoid any problems with Customs, then pass the bill on to you.

My wife and her family send things to and from Thailand all the time using the post office. There's no import duties in the US or Thailand on personal property (logical - otherwise everyone would have to pay duty for everything in their suitcase and pockets on arrival in the country). We just fill out the shipping docs with the contents listed as "personal property" and send it. Haven't had a problem in the 7 years this has been going on, probably 20 things sent each way. Everything goes airfreight and gets delivered in a week or 10 days. We've sent packages up to about 2.5 Kgs containing everything except fresh food.

This won't work for commercial merchandise, but family and friends should be able to pick up small things and send to you.

I just want to give a big Thanks! for the people responding here. This has been a problem of mine every time I go to Thailand. All these answers are a great help!

A few years ago when the wife and I traded in some gold on heavier pieces, the shop got out a loupe and a reference book of Chinese gold jewelry makers stamps. They only accepted the trade-ins after confirming the stamp on each gold piece matched one in their book. My understanding was the stamp indicated the maker and fineness of the gold. The wife says this type of inspection is fairly common. Trade in value was calculated by weight of the pieces to one hundredth or a gram.

My wife also keeps all gold receipts forever. She says it makes selling back to the same shop easier, and you get a better deal.

I'm not saying this is normal procedure at all gold shops, it's just my experience the one time the wife and I traded in some gold.

The quality of the shows and help depends largely on the amount of tipping. Cheap charlies won't like most places, big spenders will be happy almost anywhere. Buying a few drinks for the right people and 100 baht tips to the staff improve everything dramatically.

Polo: Went with a large group of farang men, all with Thai wives and girlfriends along. Better halves were happy watching the shows for an hour or so. Not too much hassle for drinks or massages. Ok for a one time visit, but I won't be going back.

Peppermint: Best overall for relaxing. Not too pushy, lots of girls, my recommendation is to sit at a table with a pole and, as always, tip well and buy a few drinks.

Baby Dolls: Wow! Tops on my list for excitement.

Secrets: Went in late one afternoon, super comfortable atmosphere, friendly staff, food available. No nudity.

None of the others I've been to are memorable enough to write about.

Can foreign registered aircraft be operated in Thailand? When I was in Singapore and Malaysia most of the flying club airplanes I saw were N registered. I'm about to begin working on a Soneria that I'd like to bring here (ferry if I'm up for an adventure) when I retire in a few years. I know the regs can change, but I'd like to know the rules now as a baseline.

Nothing yet, but will be having a Jack on the rocks when I get around to opening my new bottle in a bit.

Master and Servant - Depeche Mode - Remixes 81-04

Of course I'm using head phones on the computer - the wife has Thai karaoke on TV and stereo.

The Thai wife and I were accused of passing counterfeit 1000 Baht notes by a cashier at Big C in Khon Kaen this evening. I got the bills from an ATM, so I wasn't worried, and the manager cleared it up quick. But, after reading about fake bills on another popular site a couple weeks ago I'm wondering if this is much of a problem? Are farangs suspected of passing fake bills more than Thais?

I did a quick poll of my in-laws, who own several business' in Khon Kaen and Udon Thani. All said they watch out for counterfeits, but none of them had seen any, at least that they knew of.

Three good write ups on the US$ and Euro at Morgan Stanley:

http://www.morganstanley.com/views/gef/arc...081020-Mon.html

I would take land over gold, as you can grow you own food on your land.

Plus, if you do get some gold you have someplace to keep it.

But, since I'm in US$ for the foreseeable future, I'm glad to see some of you think it's the currency of choice.

Back to the OP for a moment.

The real misunderstanding is thinking that governments create money. They do, but only a small percentage, and generally by borrowing it. They increase the money supply by increasing the national debt. This is one area where EU countries are far ahead of the US. Check their national debt to GDP ratio, all are much higher than the US. But, right now the US is working hard to catch up.

Here's a good primer on where money really comes from:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279

However, the second part of the video is about how economies could be stabilized. What the people that created the video don't realize is that banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc, don't want a stable economy. A stable economy is a boring low profit economy. An unstable economy is an exciting, high profit potential economy. When the big money people bet wrong and take it in the shorts, why they can just go to the governments and get bailed out "for the good of the economy".

The real cure for the credit fiasco currently underway would be for the governments to declare all the credit derivatives as bad debt, do a debt to equity swap at the banks, and make the people who own the credit derivatives write them all off as a loss ( I know it's a bit more involved than that, but you get the picture). Most of the losses would then be born by the people who created this mess. But this would cause a lot of big money financial organizations to loose money, which they want to avoid by lobbying governments to give money to the banks (and AIG), so they can pay off their debts and save the profits of the big money financial organizations.

Remember, all the sub prime bad debt in the US totals about $250 Billion, and about 80% of this will eventually be paid of by the borrowers. How does this roll up into an estimated $62 Trillion in world wide credit derivative debt? That's the real story of uncontrolled greed that's still playing out.

LaoPo - your posts are write on.

I had mine done 23 years ago. About once a year for the first 10 years after my left testicle ached for a day or 2. I've had 3 other guys tell me they had the same thing, always the left side.

The procedure took 45 minutes in the doc's office with a local. I still remember it cost me $225, no insurance for it, this was the best money I've ever spent. The hardest part of the whole thing is dropping off the semen sample at the lab a few weeks after the procedure for a sperm count to make sure you're sterile. Almost everyone is very embarrassed to to this, but you just have to remember that the lab people see this every day and it's no big thing.

Sex is enhanced, as I know there is no unforeseen consequences from "Honey, I forgot to take my pill."

My current Thai wife likes it, as she doesn't have to do anything for birth control. One thing I learned from my wife it that almost no Thai men will get a vasectomy. She had actually never heard of the procedure before she met me, but she did know women could get a tubal.

Another option for long term protection is an IUD. The women I know who have one swear by them. Especially the ones out now with hormones that stop menstruation for (I think) 5 years. In the west these are not as common as pharmaceutical companies and doctors would rather sell you a prescription where they make continuous profits.

Late summer of 1991. Ford Mustang convertible I rented from my buddy Clancy at Hertz, five liter, five speed. It really pays to be on a fist name basis with a rental car manager, he used to rent me anything I wanted for $19.95 a day, unlimited miles and full insurance.

When I drove through Baker, California on I-15, the big thermometer read 128 degrees F (53 C). Needless to say, I did not have the top down. Turned north on highway 127 and headed for Death Valley. About 20 miles north on Baker the road runs straight for over 10 miles by Dumont Dunes. You top a rise and can see the entire straight in front of you, as it runs slightly down hill, across a big valley and up the other side.

I punched the throttle all the way to the floor as soon as I saw the road was clear and let the Mustang wind up to 130 on the speedo. First thing that happened was it got real hot in the car, the AC turns off when the accelerator is on the floor to give you more power. Then, as the car picked up speed, the ride got very bumpy. The little dips and bumps in the road that you don't really notice at 70 cause the car to start catching air and bottom the springs at 130. Then I remembered that I was in a convertible, and didn't want to have to explain to Clancy why it didn't have a top anymore, so I slowed down to 70 for the rest of the trip.

One of my sons was a baggage handler at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle for 6 months. He quit about a year ago because he didn't want to get involved with baggage handlers that go through as many unlocked bags as they can between unloading and putting the bags on the carousel. He felt this was 70 to 80% of the handlers that were doing this. Talking to management about it left him with the impression that they were involved, as no action ever happened and he was told not to worry about it. My son also told me that as far as he could see the handlers did not have copies of the keys for TSA approved locks. Locked bags were not opened.

If the TSA opens and inspects your bags, they always put a form inside to let you know. If it's been opened and there's no form, that's a good sign that the bag handlers were in it (at least in the US).

My bag has been opened almost every time I arrive at Sea-Tac on an international flight. I haven't lost anything as it's always full of dirty cloths when I come home. Anything expensive is in my carry on bags.

I know this happens at other airport in the US, as every year or two there's a news article someplace about bag handlers getting busted somewhere in the US. I very much doubt this activity is confined to the US.

The chaos would have been mostly felt by the upper 1% of the income ladder and for those of us below the upper 10% of income the chaos would simply have been a little more belt tightening. So I imagine chaos is defined as having some of the very wealthy losing a substantial part of their wealth for having made foolish investment decisions, such as investing in hedge funds that invested into voodoo derivatives, and thus then perhaps falling into the upper brackets of the upper middle class, a fate clearly worse than death and thus requiring the use of the tax dollars of the masses to intervene to protect them from such an undignified calamity. Sort of like the Baat collapse in Thailand a decade ago when the chaos of the time really had little bearing on the vast majority of the population: they were poor before the collapse and they were poor after the collapse.

Alas, there is still plenty of economic doggy doo doo to hit the fan as the American version of cowboy capitalism, titularly founded by Ronald Reagan and his overseas cowgirl Maggie, has always been a big pyramid scheme that is only now beginning to unravel. Amway is the American way.

Not true. If Bear Sterns had been allowed to collapse around 2 million people would have lost some or all of their pension. With AIG the number is much higher, probably close to 20 million. Not so much from the loss of AIG itself, but AIG is the biggest insurer of bad debt in the US. They have already paid out over US$25 billion in insurance claims on defaulted loans, and owe at least that much. If AIG had failed, many banks and investors would have gone under, removing pensions as they fall.

When you see phrases like "hedge funds" and "mutual fund", think "pension plan financiers" and you'll be correct most of the time.

You got it right on Reagan, his economic policies started this bubble 20 years ago.. But, the problem now is due to US gov policy changes in the early 90s. At that time the US economy started to overheat, and the US government. instead of raising interest rates to slow the economy, started to alter their tracking data (particularly the CPI) to make the economy look OK and keep the bubble going. Using the 1990 CPI criteria, inflation in the US has been running at 10 to 12% for the last 6 years. Which mean interest rates should have been much higher for a long time.

In my 60 or 70 odd times re-entering the US the Immigration office has stamped my (US) passport 3 times, I have no idea why and i don't think they did either. One of them used the stamp to hold open my passport and left half a stamp impression on the signature page. This has upset a couple of Immigration officers in other countries, until I explain what happened and show them that it looks like part of a US entry stamp.

In my experience entering the EU, my passport only gets stamped about 60% of the time. Twice entering Italy in the last year they didn't even bother to open the passport.

In countries where you have to show your passport to hotel staff to check in, quite often this is due to the hotels being required to report to Immigration all the foreigners staying there. I've seen this somewhere about Thailand, but I can't remember where.

It's not just the cam, the computer and network speed will have a great deal to do with video quality. Skype will handle VGA (640 x 480 pixel) video very well if you have the right camera, enough computer power and a good network. Skype says you need a dual core processor to handle the encoding and decoding of the 2 streams of video to have what they term 'HQ' video, plus a 2MP web cam and 384Kb/s up and down on your network. Other wise you're limited to QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) and pretty slow frame rates.

The wife & I Skype a couple times a day when I'm traveling. If we're both using our dual core laptops with built in 1.3MP cameras, we get a VGA picture at about 15 frames per second. Blown up to full screan it's at least as good as TV picture quality.

If my wife uses my home Athlon XP3000 single core processor desk top with a Logitech Quickcam, we get a QVGA window at 1 to 2 frames per second. Usually the picture is blurry due to the cam and computer not being able to capture frames fast enough to stop motion blurring. This normally uses about 6.5KB/s up and down (which is too fast for dial up).

I'm pretty close to buying a Logitech Quickcam Orbit, plus new motherboard and processor for my desktop just to make it better at Skype. The cam is US$130, but it has auto focus and is motorized with face following software, then maybe I won't spend most of every call telling my wife to move back in front of the camera!

In Japan MSG is sold everywhere, When I was working in Narita I found it hard to buy restaurant food without MSG. A lot of Japanese people sprinkle it on veggies and fruit, both fresh and cooked, to eat as a snack. Aji-No-Moto (sp?) brand is made by the Japanese company that first invented a method to artificially make MSG.

Asian people have been extracting MSG from fish for more than 2000 years. I don't there is too much of a health risk from it. Except for me, it acts like an amphetamine, much more powerful than caffeine.

MSG is my big complaint with som tum, and Asian food in general. When my wife makes som tum she takes out some for me before she puts in the MSG. Watching street vendors make som tum, they generally put in more MSG than sugar.

As for chili: I can't believe anyone would not want spicy som tum! If I'm not leaking from every facial orifice and writhing on the ground in pain after the fifth bite, it's not any good. It's a very strange dish, I have not yet found another food that I'll put up with pain to eat. I've tried less spicy and not spicy som tum, it just doesn't taste as good.

Some advice: Quite often when I'm in Isaan, I see friends, family and some vendors/restaurants use home made crab sauce in som tum. If you eat this, take worn medicine regularly. The sauce is made from river crabs, and fermenting of the sauce does not kill any worms that may be in the crabs. Most of the Isaan people I know get anti worm medication at a pharmacy and take it every few months.

No worries mate, it’s all in good fun!

Even after being married to my Thai wife for 6 years, I still have problems with her English, and she with my Thai. Some conversations go like this:

One party makes a statement in their non-native language.

Other party goes “Huh?”

Statement repeated

Other party goes” Huh?.....Oooooohhhh!” and breaks out laughing. Then the pronunciation is corrected by the native speaking party and we move on in the conversation.

This also happens with my other Thai relatives and friends.

My favorite mis-pronunciation from my wife and her family is still “Baa baa yaa saa lat”. I ate this for months with out any idea what it was made from, until one morning someone brought ripe papaya for breakfast. One of my sister in laws sees it and says “Ahhh, baa baa yaa!”

For other places, I always enjoy it when I hear “Have a nice fright!” while boarding an airplane in Narita.

For lots of English bastardizations, see www.engrish.com

When I started traveling internationally for my large US based corporation back in 1996, I received training on travel security from the company security office. One of the stories they told was of a company executive riding in a taxi in BKK during a visit in 1994.

Seems the guy was in suit and tie with briefcase in hand in the back of a taxi. Along the way from his hotel to a meeting, they came upon a traffic accident that had recently occurred. The taxi driver stopped the cab, got out and went to talk to the police who were already on the scene. The executive figured the driver was offering to help out. But, after a few seconds of talking the driver came back to the cab with the police officer. The officer made the guy get out of the taxi and immediately arrested him for causing the accident! Seems they had found a farang who could pay for it all.

After being thrown in jail, the guy called the company, the company hired lawyers and tried in several visits to judges over 4 days to get him out of jail, with no luck. The company finally gave up and paid about US$35K to settle everything, because they figured their executive wouldn’t survive much longer in a Thai jail. The money was to pay for funerals for a couple of the accident victims, medical bills for everyone else, and to repair both cars. I’m sure there was some ‘fees’ in there as well.

The company’s recommendation in any similar situation was to throw money at the cab driver and walk away as fast as possible without attracting attention in any third world country.

Remember, this was 13 years ago. With the way tourism has grown I don’t think it would happen today in Thailand, even in Isaan. I also think it would not have happened if the executive had been dressed like a tourist.

While driving in Thailand in the last few years I’ve not been in an accident, but I have been stopped at many police check points. I’ve never gotten any hassle from the police, just friendly questions about who I was, where I lived, where I was going, etc.

Just 3 or 4 years ago the Thai gov. released a study showing that the back packers were better tourist for the Thai people:

Backpackers don't spend the amount of money that the rich tourist do, but they mostly travel through the poor parts of the country and hand their money to local Thais.

Rich tourists spend most of their money at their home travel agent, who arranges for tourist to stay at western owned hotels where almost none of the money stays in Thailand.

Now it looks like enough rich Thias have built expensive hotels that the gov is trying to help them out.

Just my 25 Satangs worth and a couple data points: The wife and I have been using our Mastercard debit cards and Visa credit cards many times over the last few months in LOS and have always gotten the onshore rate for ATM withdrawals and purchases. Both cards are issued by the same US based Credit Union.

I have several US friends who have 2 passports for the same reason, one for Israel, and one for other mid-east countries.

Also, I work with a US citizen who has passports from 12 countries (sorry, I don't remember from where). Everywhere he goes he asks the gov. if he can get a passport. In many countries you can pay a fee, sometimes rather large, and swear an oath to never take up arms against that country, and they'll give you a passport. I know Australia used to do this for citizens of some counries for Australia $100K.

Wholly Mackerel! Somethin' smells fishy around here!