wpcoe

...unlikely that as a tourist he would have a Thai bank account isn't it ? . As for an insurance scam very unlikely as he was a tourist and hence must assume he would have holiday insurance. He would be lucky to get cover for more than £500 in cash let alone 196k baht plus 3k sterling. Maybe just a compulsive lier to impress his pals and "partner"

The article said "The pair resides at an Apartment complex in Soi 17..." so he maybe was a resident and could well have had a Thai bank account.

Totally thoughtless.............What are they going to clean the floor with now?

Perhaps the hospital retained the contents of the stomach pump and returned it to the girlfriend?

I suspect Subway has had it's shop computer hardware provisioning fine-tuned with the help of efficiency experts over the years, but one change I would suggest would be to add a LCD display screen facing the customer (like at Tesco) so you can see what is being rung up, what the total amount is, and what your change should be. It's just too easy the way it is now to pull the "ring up a water" stunt.

You should have an RJ-45 socket that is used for access to local network. It looks like a normal telephone socket but a little larger.

If you don't have a LAN connection on your computer it would probably be best to obtain a USB type ADSL modem.

Or, buy an inexpensive Ethernet card that fits your notebook's card slot ... probably PCMCIA if it is old enough to not even have an RJ-45 jack. If you can find an old 10-Mb Ethernet card, that is adequate for an ADSL connection, and might be cheaper than a 100-Mb or gigabit (1000-Mb) card.

I know there are USB Ethernet adapters, but I think they are a bit expensive, so if you want a USB solution, go for lopburi3's suggestion and get an ADSL modem.

From Windows itself you can run MSCONFIG from a command prompt to do what you want, but IIRC you'll get a nag screen each time you boot into Windows if you deselect some auto-load choices.

A long list of shareware and freeware to manipulate start-up items: http://www.sharewareconnection.com/titles/startup.htm

I use an old version of (freeware) Startup Cop (v 1.0.1.0) and am happy with it. There are newer versions of Startup Cop now. I can't recall the details why, but I recall that when I tried "new & improved" Startup Cop versions, I liked the original better and reverted to it.

Thanks. So does that mean that the OEM version doesn't include 64 bit?

Correct: None of the OEM versions, including OEM Ultimate, include 64-bit, and Microsoft does NOT offer a 64-bit upgrade path for OEM versions like it does for Full versions.

The Full Ultimate box includes both 32- and 64-bit DVDs. NONE of the other Full versions include 64-bit in the box, but you order a 64-bit DVD directly from a Microsoft website, and use the same product key and can flip flop back and forth between 32-bit and 64-bit re-installation.

I'm not clear if an upgrade path to 64-bit is available for Upgrade Vista versions. I'm also not clear if Microsoft makes OEM 64-bit versions, which I'd wager would not include a downward 32-bit option.

Here is the original story of the runaway car.....note the childs age and no mention of Mum.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86947

Boy, he went down the tubes fast! "Pattaya City News, Wednesday 4th October 2006" reported that he "recently purchased a BMW 740". And now mid-Feb 2007 and he has lost already everything (except his son)?

IIRC from the photos from the locked-in-the-car episode from October, and the child was a toddler. If there were two (or more?) children, did the mother keep the other(s)?

Me, I'm just irritated that three weeks after the launch of Vista you still can't buy Ultimate it in Thailand.

Two days ago IT City on the top floor of Pantip had both the Full Ultimate (B19,990) and OEM 32-bit Ultimate. I can't recall the OEM price. The Full version includes two DVDs: one 32-bit and one 64-bit.

I believe someone else found the Full Ultimate package at a promo display at Fortune, also.

Does a person need a sign to realise that taking a luggage trolley down regular escalators is dangerous? Are people really that stupid? What the hel_l happened to people's ability to think logically and take care of themselves? Where does personal responsibility start and finish; no, i'll go one step more. Where does common sense start and finish?

I'm amazed. Truly amazed.

If people using ZRH, NRT, FRA and KUL never used the regular-looking escalators with their baggage carts, the lines to the elevators would be prohibitively long.

C'mon guys, think outside of your box. Maybe you've never seen escalators and carts that work together, but they exist. Someone who flies regularly between NRT and FRA, for example, could easily mistake that other airports have similarly designed trolley systems.

"Common sense" is relative to the situation. Your "common sense" might be shocked to see dozens of well-trained Japanese travellers take their trolleys up the escalators at NRT. Their "common sense" might be shaken as they watch their trolley tumble down an escalator at a different airport.

I suspect that the reason there are not signs warning folks at Suvarnabhumi not to take carts on the escalators is that, as someone mentioned above, they don't *fit*.

My recollection was that in Zurich airport, the trolleys go up and down the steep escalators... not sure if they had signs of any kind or not.

Trolleys are put on regular escalators at (I believe) Kuala Lumpur International Airport as well. It's somewhat disconcerting the first time you do this but the trolleys themselves are of some special design so that they lock in place.

Yes, and so is Frankfurt. The trolley locks with the steps on the escalators and becomes freed when the steps move on the the flat part.

Max.-weight, I remember(?) is 70 kgs and common sense would be not to load too high to avoid your bags slipping of. There is a bar under which your bag(s) should fit.

Edit to add, the BKK-trolleys do not seems to fit on escalators forming stairs, but ok for me to go up and down on the flat travellators.

Narita airport also uses baggage trolleys on standard "steep" stair-stype escalators. Perhaps some of the folks who are deriding the OP for his "stupidity" don't get out much? FRA, ZRH, KUL and NRT are not exactly obscure airports... Okay, maybe ZRH is.

When I was handed my passport last October with my first retirement extension, the lady at the back of the Jomtien Immigrations Office sternly said: "You CANNOT work in Thailand on this visa, you understand?" To which I replied I was happy not to work any more.

Is there anything in the Immigrations rules & regulations that addresses possessing a work permit while also possessing either an O-A visa, or extension based on retirement? Or, was the only barrier the reluctance (inability?) of the Labor Department to issue the permit to a passport hold with a "retirement visa"?

Price OEM

Home basic 3,999 Code SW1-75

Home Premium 4,999 Code SW1-76

Business 5,999 Code SW1-77

Ultimate 10,990 Code SW1-80 {No they didn't have any, order only}

FPR {Full Price Retail?}

Home Premium 7,490

Ultimate 12,580

However, there was a scribbled note which I saw {upside down} stating FPR Vista Ultimate English 19,900.

I wish I had written down the prices, but those sound about like the ones I saw at IT City. I do know the OEM Business was B5999. I'm pretty sure their Ultimate Full version was B19,900.

Continuing with my Windows Vista shopping quest, I was in Bangkok for the day, and spent a few hours at Pantip. I started on the second floor asking at five or six of the larger shops working my say up to the top floor to IT City. None of the shops I asked had Vista.

IT City has a nice display stand with a knowledgable (!) staff member to answer questions. The ONLY versions they have are OEM, except for the Full version of Ultimate. They had no Upgrade versions nor any other Full versions. They had OEM Home, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, but all of them are 32-bit. (I was a little surprised that OEM Ultimate was 32-bit only, but, oh well.)

They have a price chart for versions that they don't have in stock, but that list does NOT include an Upgrade version for Business. They did list an full range of Full packages for all levels, though, including a couple Thai versions.

On my way out of Pantip I stopped at Data IT on the Mezannine floor and was helped by a team of two stumbling sales associates. At first they didn't know what Windows Vista was, then when the light came on they looked through some inventory book: IBM, Acer, and finally Microsoft. :-) "One moment sir" as they left for the back room several times. Finally they said they only had Home Premium, and I said thanks, but I wanted Business. A few more "One moment sir" disappearances and they came back and said OEM 32-bit Business was B4,500 and it was in stock. I was doubtful of the price, but they insisted, so who am I to complain, when everyplace wanted B6,000. They said "follow me" and lead me to a book store on the 3rd floor which has a display window with the "Microsoft Clean Site" display. The lady behind the register raised an eyebrow when she saw me and a long conversation ensued between her and the Data IT sales associate. It was not a "mai mii" conversation, but that's what he turned around and said to me. What I *think* happened was that they phoned her shop and she had quoted a wholesale price to them, thinking they would then add the normal markup to B6000 and sell it to me. I do NOT think she expected them to bring a hopeful farang to her counter to purchase it for B4,500. If I'm wrong on that assumption, and they WERE simply out of stock, I suggest anyone interested in Vista Business stop by her shop. It's near the "up" escalator on the third floor ... if you were getting on that escalator, the shop would be behind you to your left ... it's on the corner.

So, from my initial scans of both Pantip and Tukcom, all I could find were 32-bit OEM versions, with the one exception of the full Ultimate version at IT City.

Has anybody seen the Upgrade version of Vista Business? That's what I'm looking for, so I can order the 64-bit DVD from Microsoft. Either that, or an OEM 64-bit Vista Business version.

Just a suggestion I bought a air blower for 300 baht at tesco lotus and it works fine it cleans all the dust of my keyboard as well as inside my computer tower paying outrages prices for can of air just annoyed me oh I also used it clean my rollers inside my inkjet printer because the papers were jamming up it cleared up the problem temporally Now if you want to buy it look in tool deptment were they sell drills and electric tools I bought the cheeper one next time I will buy the better one

Great suggestion! B300??? Not much more than a couple cans of compressed air.

Last time I used it, the air con was not working (I assume it was broken, but maybe it was simply not turned on?). The windows on the bus do NOT open for ventilation, except the one beside the driver. Riding the bus in mid-afternoon sun was not pleasant. Dark red does NOT reflect heat very well.

Two weeks later I saw the same bus cruising around with the doors open, so assume the air con was still not working.

I only use the bus when I happen to see one when I'm ready to go. In the past I would wait and wait and wait. In the beginning the bus was proclaimed to be running every 20 minutes, and I would wait 45 minutes for a bus to come just to see how long it would take.

If you take a bus from North Pattaya heading into Jomtien, you normally stop across the street from Tesco on Sukhumvit whle the driver refills his water bottle and takes a break. Then when you approach the Soi Chiyapruek intersection, the bus makes a U-turn and pulls into that hotel and again the driver takes a break. THEN, you finally continue on your way to Jomtien.

Also, the buses only run one way on the circuit around Pattaya/Naklua/Jomtien, even though there are big bus stops on BOTH sides of the streets.

The extravagant cocktail contains a 5.02 carat heart shaped Ruby, served in an award winning hand blown martini glass.

OK, I'm clueless about gems and jewelry. What is the street value for a "5.02 carat heart shaped Ruby"?

BTW: it worked out at 625THB and not 700THB due to exchange rates which is the first time any exchange has worked to my advantage regarding Thailand

That's odd, since the fee is levied in THB, not in another currency to be converted to THB. In what country was your ticket issued, and how much was the "tax" stated and in what currency (before being converted to THB)?

Or, "Drive with your headlights on if you support us. Especially at night!"

Thanks for the info, cdnvic and silvero. I found that same info doing a Google search of 32-bit and 64-bit upgrade, as well as this article by Paul Thurrott that is dated January 29, 2007:

Users who purchase Upgrade versions of Windows Vista will not be able to perform clean installs of the operating system. Instead, they will need to first install their previous OS and then upgrade in-place to Vista.

"This problem occurs because Windows Vista [setup]does not check upgrade compliance," a support note on Microsoft's Web site reads. "Therefore, you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista."

While this is sure to infuriate some users--and certainly, it contradicts information Microsoft provided me with last year--the reality is that upgrade installs of Windows Vista essentially wipe out the OS and perform an install that is very much like a clean install. The real problem here, therefore, will be the length of time it takes to install Vista using the Upgrade media: Though Vista often installs in about 30 minutes, previous versions often take twice as long.

UPDATE: I haven't tested this yet, as I don't have Vista Upgrade media to test, but I'm told that Microsoft's internal documentation does explain how to clean install Vista using an Upgrade version. It appears to be more of a workaround than a true clean install, however. Here's what it says.

1. Boot with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD.

2. Click "Install Now."

3. Do not enter a Product Key When prompted.

4. When prompted, select the Vista product edition that you do have.

6. Install Vista normally.

7. Once the install is complete, restart the DVD-based Setup from within Windows Vista. Perform an in-place upgrade.

8. Enter your Product Key when prompted.

So, basically:

OEM versions are cheap, and are clean & fast installs, but can only be 32-bit OR 64-bit. No changing.

Upgrade versions are next cheapest, but without the additional dance steps 1-8 listed above, you have to install XP first to do a "clean install" of Vista. One report stated that you also have to have SP2 installed before Vista will "upgrade" on top of it. Apparently the Vista Upgrade version does a "Genuine Advantage" check of the XP version installed so you can't use a B100 WinXP disk from Pantip and upgrade to Vista on top of it. There is also talk (speculation?) that Microsoft is planning to close that loophole of steps 1-8 above.

Retail versions are most expensive but most flexible: clean install as many times as you want, with no underlying XP needed.

Both Upgrade and Retail versions come with 32-bit DVD in the box but if you need CD's or want 64-bit DVD, you order from: Microsoft directly "for a minimal fee, including shipping and handling." I wonder how much it costs to ship to Thailand? <shrug> The same product key is used for 32-bit and 64-bit and you can revert to 32-bit without paying anything more, but you must totally re-install from scratch (first re-installing WinXP if you have the Vista Upgrade version).

Not sure about Pattaya but here in Bangkok Home Pro sell it - called "Air Brush".

Patrick: What department/section of Home Pro?

In the basement of Tutkom there is a store (opp Topps) the carries it. Can't remember the name.

I think you are referring to "Amorn." It is hit or miss if they have the compressed air in stock. In fact, I was there yesterday afternoon and they didn't have any, nor was there empty shelf space where it sometimes is.

What I find interesting is if you go to the shops on the 4th floor at Tukcom and ask about compressed air, most of them don't even know what you are asking for.

I think I read that you can only really physically buy the 32 bit version, whereas MS can be contacted in order to exchange it for the 64 bit one. The licence change doesn't cost anything (shipping & handling if they need to send you a DVD, nothing if you can get it directly)

I guess I'll need to allocate some time to exploring the MS website.

I don't think they'd need to send a new DVD, as I understand that the DVD contains all the feature sets of all the versions, and it's simply the licensing key that unlocks the features appropriate to what you paid for, i.e. a new license key would be all that's required to install a different version.

If that IS the case, I can see where it might be possible to install the 32-bit version, then get a new key for 64-bit, and if it didn't work out, then go back to the original 32-bit using the original key.

If I find something on the MS site, I'll post here. Any other thoughts out there?

I was at Tukcom Center in Pattaya today, and Hardware House had OEM Vista Business 32-bit for B6,000.

I'm interested in 64-bit, though. Do any stores in Pantip have Vista Business 64-bit in stock? OEM?

In general the 64 bit version is faster and more stable. The good thing about Vista is that the DVD comes with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions, so if you want to revert back to 32 bit, this is possible without licensing problems.

Actually the DVD comes with all versions (Home, Home Premium, Business, etc) on it, and the licensing key determines which version's functions will be active.

BUT, are you saying that if I buy and activate a given version (e.g. Home Premium or Business), I will have the option of either 32- or 64-bit and can uninstall one and reinstall the other with the same license and re-activate the newly installed version? If so, that would make my choice a bit easier.

I went to Tukcom Center in Pattaya today and Hardware House had OEM Vista Business 32-bit for B6,000. They had NO 64-bit versions of any of the Vistas saying that it didn't work with most motherboards (?) and told me to check the Asus web site to see if my mobo were compatible. I ran 64-bit XP for a while and it worked fine with my hardware, as did the Vista Beta RC1 64-bit. Doesn't matter: they don't have 64-bit anyway, and said they couldn't get it for six months. (?)

Does anyplace in Pantip have Vista Business 64-bit? OEM?

I also am concluding (deducing) that one can NOT switch from 32-bit to 64-bit (or vice versa) without buying another license. One shop at Tukcom "thought" I could "upgrade" to 64-bit directly with Microsoft but had no idea how much it would cost. Anybody here have any information or ideas on that?

I saw the OEM Vista packages in TukCom yesterday, priced as follows:

What shop(s) or store(s)?