pgs

We have also been toying with the transer ideals - but are not thrilled with the unnecessarily high fees in Oz for it. PayPal is an option - but not one I would recommend. Their security is pathetic - worse when one considers how much of Thawte / Verisign they own.

Western Union is handy for quick cash, but also horrendously expensive.

If you have a look at www.xe.com, this Canadian based currency exchange has an international trasfer system that has reasonable fees. Worth a look.

Edit:

Just noticed another option in the 'General' forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=125267

This may be practical if you're not in a hurry.

Sorry for that Lady. But how you can force yourself on a woman when she is wriggling about is something I find hard to understand....I find it difficult enough to penetrate when the lady wants me to.....!

I really do not beleive you said that - why not go all the way and say she really wanted it!

't would appear you may have read the words, but not understood what was written.

Luckydog said:

1) he is sorry for the lady it happened to.

2) he has trouble understanding how it can happen when the girl is trying to fight her way out.

THEN:

He has trouble entering his wife when she wants it (probably she is a small woman)

Hope that clears it up. Easy enough mistake.

a very easy answer from a white australian.

it is never an issue for me as we have absolutely no culture in australia as we are just over 200 years old. ( pathetic really )

but what we do have is a brilliant life style, which is beaches in summer, b.b.q's with the friends and football, which to be perfectly honest i could not give a toss about. ( football that is)

i love the thai culture as they got it and we hav'nt, but what does one expect from a country full of convicts. ( not thailand but australia )

thank you very much.

Have to agree with you. No culture in Oz that isn't in yoghurt. Yes, the lifestyle is good for those that like beaches / cricket & football (league in it's many forms) - which, personally, I don't.

I lived for 9 years with 4 Vietnamese & then married a Thai (figure that one out!). Asian culture is fine. European culture is fine. Just as long as they all learn to play nicely together, it doesn't matter.

Here, her Thainess sometimes makes her preferred meals, if it's OK for me I'll eat it - if not I'll make something else.

She is more inclined to sit on the floor than at the table - it's no problem (she can't knock over the beer from that distance).

It works for us.

#edit to correct spelling.

These days I prefer a good beer or whisk(e)y to sex. Not so sure the missus is overjoyed knowing she is No2 in my mind, but lives with it OK. Besides, a drink is a lot less trouble.

So, who or what is No. 1 ? The beer/whisky or your Mia Noi ?

LaoPo

Give me the booze first. Have enough & the other has less importance. Not an alcy, just enough to sleep.

These days I prefer a good beer or whisk(e)y to sex. Not so sure the missus is overjoyed knowing she is No2 in my mind, but lives with it OK. Besides, a drink is a lot less trouble.

I always wonder why Thais only use washers to wash clothes, but don't use dryers. With the humid climate, the clothes takes a long time to dry, even in hanging on the balcony. It is also strange to hang your underwear outside.

Go on - be like Batman, Spidey & Superman. They have no problem with it (although it may be embarrassing for guests)

More than likely it will be the staff from the bus company.

More than likely they just photoed your ATM card & re-produced a clone.

Having the PIN number nearby was stupid.

The ATM where the cash was withdrawn will have a photo record of who used it.

The withdrawer will most likely have been wearing a helmut.

Soundman.

Nothing to say the bag was in disarray, so whomever would have had to know exactly where to look & have time to put it back the same way (unless the original packer is really messy at packing). If other bags had been interferred with, there would be something about it here or in one of the common places - 2 Bangkok or similar. Sounds too much like an 'inside job'.

I am just SO fed up with people abandoning supermarket trolleys at Thai immigration on the Cambodian border crossing and the checkout girl at Tesco Lotus demanding to see my passport.

I mean !

<deleted> !

Did the checkout girl really ask for your passport What was the reason?

Maybe its the uniform

Could be she's after a date? Is she cute?

From the first entry:

On a bus tour from Bangkok (departing at Khao San Rd.) to Phuket my baggage was scanned and money and bank cards were stolen. The bank cards were used to withdraw money from an ATM machine while the bus was on its way. They were put back into the baggage so the theft was realised only a few days later when it turned out that the account was "empty".

It must have happened during the bus journey since money was withdrawn at the time the bus was on its way and at a place were they did not stop for passengers. The bus was supposed to go from Bangkok to Phuket, however it went through Surrathani where passenger to Phuket and some other places had to continue by mini bus.

Um - problem:

1) the card was stolen.

2) the card was used during a journey without stops.

3) The card was in his bag at Phuket.

Sounds almost troll-like.

whom has the tagline: did I spend 10,000B here last night? Good, I thought I lost it.

Your going to sue a Thai bus company? (your joking right?)

Honestly...who writes down their PIN on a note that's in the same bag as their ATM card??

Maybe you should have just written the PIN right on the card with a permanent marker. Then you'd never have to remember it.

How much money was stolen? Don't most banks have some kind of theft insurance (ie you get your cards stolen and then pay you back). Not sure if this applied to ATM withdrawals though.

You could call the bank where the withdrawal was made, maybe they caught the theives of CCTV?

Bank give it back? Not a chance. The PIN was with the card - that alone makes the responsibility solely his.

Chances of any form of compo from the bus company is also slim. You may have a better chance claiming damage to the bag on your travel insurance (you did have travel insurance, didn't you?), but they also would not cover the loss of cash due to the PIN being with the card.

First visit to Thailand was in the mid-70's. 2nd was early 2000 for a conference. First thought was "great. hookers, temples & drugs." Last day of the visit I did a 1/2 day tour & fell for the place. 2 months later I was back for a holiday to BKK & CM. 3 months later I was back again - fell for Chiang Mai. Then a few more times. One visit, I met this little lass from Chiayaphum & haven't looked back. The 'bar girl' scene Patpong/etc didn't really hold an attraction for me. I prefer the 1000 year old Khmer & Lanna kingdom temples (yes, opposite ends of the country). I'm not a beach bunny, so don't bother with those places or islands.

Nice pic quiksilva. I didn't have a big ceremony but it looks like quite a bit of money is spent on weddings by foreigners marrying Thais - another benefit for the economy here.

Thai's spend lots of money on their weddings too. Not un-common for 1mil+ baht to be spent on a wedding from the Thai upper class. Even weddings in the not so well off class tend to be very extravagant.

My thai wedding 6 years ago had over 400 people in attendance & that was considered a small wedding!!!!

The photo shoot was the most annoying part - took hours.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Ours was about 20,000THB. Not an 'over the top' wedding. As it was 2nd time each, we had things we preferred to spend the $ on. Great turn out for a breakkie wedding - about 200 people on 18 hours notice. Although I always feel 2 hours is far too long for a ceremony of any type.

The blue one I married.

pgs, do you want to be french?

Have you got a body odour problem or sommething?

Aussie + French / UK. Froggie grandfather was in the French Resistance.

The BO is is from garlic, chilli & Guinness - although not together. ;-)

We also have family ties to Luxemburg, Germany, Wales, Korea, Japan, Viet Nam & Canada.

TW (could be 'trophy', who knows?) is 16 months older than I. 2nd time for both. My first was a slightly younger WW (hmmm WW1?) whom was more trouble than anything else. Never went with a younger one after that. Married almost 4 years (Oct) without major drama - usual language problems is about all.

One of the benefits of Asian wives it they tend to look younger. Mine easily passes off about 15 years younger.

First marriage yes.

After observing friends geting married & divorced in aussie, I can't believe how lucky I am (overall picture).

Cheers,

Soundman.

You don't look too happy. Little 'un let one rip?

Recently I looked at getting the French spouse visa for TW (Yes, I have both pp's). It is a complicated process. My heritage also allows a UK passport - which the consular lass suggested I get as it would be easier to get TWs entry to Europe. Her response to 'would you rather be French or British' was just a smile.

Really, it doesn't matter much to me - both countries have good & bad beers.

Froggie PP is only 5 years also.

It's a mistake to look at the AMD model number such as "5200" and think that means 5.2 GHz! My AMD X2 4200 has two 2.2 GHz cores and is definitely slower than my Intel Core 2 Duo machine that has two 2.4 GHz cores. In this case, both systems are using DDR2 memory.

I have found that the AMD X2 and the Intel Core 2 Duo compare pretty well at the same clock speeds, e.g. their relative performance on my own favorite benchmarks come out pretty close to what you would expect by comparing the real clock rates. I'd say that the Intel parts perform a little better on 32 bit code than the AMD parts a the same clock speed, while the AMD parts are faster if you run in 64-bit mode. The Intel parts also consume less power than a comparable AMD part.

As for recommending a motherboard, it really depends on your other goals and requirements. In recent years, I've given up on the idea of "ugprading" computers much. Each time I buy a new CPU, it tends to be a different socket and require a new motherboard. I usually get the ones that cost less than $100 US, with everything integrated so I just need to add RAM and disks to have a functioning system. Sometimes I can move RAM between systems and sometimes I have to upgrade it too, such as when I went from AMD socket 754 with DDR memory to socket AM2 with DDR2 memory. I am not a gamer, so I do not need a high powered graphics card...

Consider also that AMD have the Quad core either coming soon or released. They claim a true quad core as opposed to Intel's dual dual core.

What are you using the system for? Just internet & letters? Heavy games? Photo & movie editing? Which version of Windows (or Linux?)? That dictates more what is required.

Before heading OS, I advise my CC company which counties I'll be in, which sections of those countries, approximately what max $ transaction I'd expect in one hit, what dates I'll be away. If anything occurs from somewhere else or higher than anticipated, the payment is held whilst they call for verification. This can be a little inconvenient at times, but it's worth it.

Yes, they actually do it! I was so surprised to have an Aussie bank provide customer service.

Realistically, the cost of the call is cheaper than the stuffing about later.

I'll be back in BKK in about a week, so this is relevant to me too.

So to sum it all up, is the exchange rate any different at the airport to what it is in the city?

I plan to change about $500 AUD at the airport & then transfer some more cash over once I open a Thai bank account.

You'll lose a fortune if you transfer via the bank system. Fee for the transfer + a lousy exchange rate.

Not so sure paypal is a better option, but it is one to look at.

I still prefer to carry AUD & change it in LoS. The banks there give far better rates than in Oz.

This thing with banning liquids on airplanes is completely ridiculous. On my most recent flight out of the U.S., I had a very small bottle of hairspray, half a bottle of lotion and a new tube of toothpaste that they took and threw away right in front of me.

As far as I'm concerned any man trying to board an aeroplane in possession of a can of hairspray should be denied boarding on the basis of being an unsavoury character !

You really have a problem with this hairspray thing, dont you? Sorry for wanting to groom myself.

This thing with banning liquids on airplanes is completely ridiculous. On my most recent flight out of the U.S., I had a very small bottle of hairspray, half a bottle of lotion and a new tube of toothpaste that they took and threw away right in front of me. I'm sorry but toothpaste isn't going to harm the airplane or anyone in it. As a matter of fact, the whole security thing at all airports is a sham. I work for a major U.S. airline at a major U.S. international airport. If a terrorist really wanted to do some harm, there are so many easy ways to do so that have nothing at all to do with security checkpoints. It's just a joke and it pisses me off.

In case my career path someday leads me to want to become a terrorist, can you please shed some light on the "many easy ways" to do harm? I'm sure the policing agencies around the globe would also like to hear your comments.

You do know that there are explosives that can be formed into a paste? You undoubtably also know that such paste can be inserted into a tube of toothpaste and then capped off with a layer of genuine toothpaste.

An easy way to bring down an airplane is with fire. Next time you are playing with your girly hairspray, use it near a flammable source (i.e. a cigarette lighter or a lit match).

No, I didn't know that about paste because I am not an explosives expert. Nevertheless, the fact remains, it's a stupid rule. A terrorist would study diligently what the current regulations are in airports before attempting anything. They would know that there is a liquid ban going on and would never try to smuggle liquids onto an airplane as a passenger because they know it would get tossed. Unless they were really stupid, they wouldn't even try this. These people trying to do harm are not stupid. Therefore, I will always believe this rule is ridiculous.

Another aspect of this is that government agencies are trying to be racially sensitive so they check people at random. This also needs to be done away with. There is a very specific group of people that are trying to do harm. I'm sorry but racial profiling is just necessary. I should be able to keep my toothpaste.

As for you wanting me to enlighten you as to what the many things are that can be done to do harm, I am not going to write that on a public forum for all to see. That wouldn't be very smart.

"Diplomatic immunity" would be SO handy...

Shame telling them to 'sod off' isn't considered diplomatic.

Wonderful things those zappers. Haven't seen them for sale for some time. Are they still available? Unable to import them into Australia - they still have signs at Australian airports warning people they are a prohibited import.

Peter

Got lucky bringing my few through Sydney - the following week someone was collected at customs with one.

Mine - all battery - are still working fine.

sir again.. the reason thai girl attract to faRang is coz they have money and they dont. not all most.

if the buffalos are thouroughbreeds, you might want to look into thai buffalo racing. just like thai wife the money demands will never end......lol.

all kidding aside sir, the sister scammed you. baby buffalo worth little. big ones worth a lot. you ever seen plow being pulled by baby buffalo.

is this a riddle?

thouroughbreeds?????,thai buffallo racing????

Buffalo racing - apparently yes. TW use to race them (as a jockey) when she was between the ages of 6 & 15.

Seems it is/was a big thing in rural areas. Can hardly wait to see it. :-)

Married to a great Surin lady for 16 years now, and couldn't be happier. Having had a simply awful experience with one girl from Phuket, I arrived at phuket airport not to be met by my (Then) girl, but another holding up a sign for me. Yes, I married her. First met she had no English at all, and 'conversations' were through her working girl friends: she lots of working girls as she was a hairdresser, but too frightened to go to see the bars at night. Yes, she was a 28 year old virgin (I can guarantee that, to the sceptics).

Married in a great ceremony in her home town in Surin. No sin-sot as her mother said she has already slept with me so none is necessary (?).

She now has excllent English and goes to TAFE (Australian Technical And Further Education programme) 4 time a week doing Computing and business studies. She runs the house, mows the lawns, cleans the pool, excellent cook from a baked dinner through to the Thai meals.

Not ONE argument in 16 years. Visit her family at least once a year (where I hide in FarangVonnecion eating vegemite on toast ) and they treat me with great affection and respect.

Send the family about AUD1000 a year to help them along.

I love her dearly.

Edited...after a few scotches:

Learning English was great fun:

The Kitchen chicken (cupboard)

The umberalla (escalator)

The bath bird needs water

See that pretty flybutter?

But the classic was when I was in hospital for a minor thing "Do you want me to bring you some clean virginas?" (pajamas)

Mine is close - she cleans the chicken (kitchen)

Thainglish is a fun thing...

which kind of in law is more common?

those that want or those that dont want?

Gee - how to respond to this one?

I'd happily have 2 m's-i-l like mine. Actually, Im quite happy with the Thai side of the family.

No matter which social class you marry into, the chances are you will be asked outright for money or asked to enter into a "risk free, sure deal". I would like to know what you say or do and how successful you are with your approach.

Before I married my Thai wife this same question came up for me. The answer that worked for me was on the forum. We have a $1,000.00 borrowing fund. Any Thai family member can borrow from it. The amount of the available loan is equal to the fund balance. So a $1,000.00 loan can be had if all previous loans have been paid back. If not, then one has to be satisfied with the present balance. Family members catch on to helping others remember to repay their loan. This method has been working very well for the past three years.

I had considered this as a way of paying for the neice / nephews further education. Happily, one of the younger boys has been granted a scholarship for soccer (football) which covers his schooling for the duration. Now - if we can just get his teenage sisters working...