grain

Yep, that's what I suspected. The 2 regions of Thailand with the most powerful saiyasat are Deep South (Muslim/Hindu) and lower Isarn around Surin/Srisaket/Buriram (Khmer). I've got nothing to offer you in help/advice regarding TVs & iPods, none of the research I did ever dealt with those things. And as you're in London there's nothing I can think of regarding getting saiyasat lifted over there. If you're coming back to Thailand, or S'Pore, in the near future, and you still feel that saiyasat has been done to you, and is still effecting you, then you can seek out a wisit or mor saiyasat to remove it. Enquiring at Hindu temples, Thai temples or Mosques would be the best starting place. Here's are some photos from 10 years ago. A Thai girl I knew at the time believed saiyasat had been done to her and she asked me to help her find someone to lift it. I located a temple near Pattaya and took her there. It happened that there was also another Thai girl there at the same time with similar issues. So the monk carried out a ritual with both of them and lifted the spells.

OP which province does your ex GF come from? This is important as you need to know if you're dealing with Khmer or Muslim saiyasat. Those are the 2 strongest forms found in Thailand. I know a good deal about this as I'm a retired journalist and I carried out extensive research that was published in a couple of Thai magazines in the 1990s. I can offer you some guidance but first where's this gal from?

self-inflicted slash scars on the wrists and forearms.

I did read about some Thai (Siamese) troops fighting in WW1. It was long ago and I can't recall the title of the book. But from memory it was written by a British officer who post-war was attached to some diplomatic posting in Thailand, and he recounted how he had first come into contact with Thais during the war, they were in a unit attached to French colonial forces.

Not quite correct. Thailand certainly picked sides in WW2 and sided with the Axis and a declaration of war was sent to the USA. There were also Thai troops fighting in Vietnam. And I read long ago that some Siamese troops were fighting in Europe during WW1, from memory they were attached to the French Indo-China colonial forces.

A year ago I had to contact my bank (CBA) in Oz, I called on my mobile, waited 50 minutes to get someone to talk to, chewed up a whole bunch of my phone credit. Anyway the operator told me next time contact them via FB. So that's what I do now and get excellent service. I recently had to get a new card. I sent CBA a PM via FB, 5 minutes later I was discussing my situation with someone. Then they phoned me, checked me out with security questions, and my new card was posted to me in Thailand. So see if you can find ANZ on FB.

I always check immediately after leaving the immigration booth, just in case some wrong date has been put there. It's never happened to me, but if it did it'd be much easier to get it fixed there and then than to find out later and have to frig around at some immigration office.

I've never been asked, my hunch is it would greatly depend on one's appearance, a smartly dressed person would be highly unlikely to be checked for this, whereas someone who looked like they'd be begging on the streets for their next meal would in all likelihood be asked to show sufficient funds.

17yo mother with a 2yo kid, so she gave birth at 15, means she was up the stick at 14. AOC in Thailand is 15, so there's also the little matter of the father of the child (if she even knows who he was) being guilty of a serious crime.

So in my situation (as you are too) our Thai partners can legally handle all the issues of getting the legal docs to release the bodies for the temples? No need to involve family NOKs back in farangland?

I live in Thailand and will use a Thai card, actually a SCB debit card. So it'll be THB.

I did contact them and the listed price was a lot more. But as you suggest I'll ask them to beat the Agoda price.

yes, thanks, I have seen when it takes me to the final page and there are taxes applied, but that price is still far cheaper that what the hotel is asking.

I would prefer that too, but can't see how to do on the reservation page.

I need to book a hotel in BKK for a couple of nights in mid Oct. Usually I make reservations directly with hotels, but I see Agoda is very much cheaper, I've never used them before. On the Agoda site it gives 2 prices for the room I'm interested in. One price with no cancellation and for a couple hundred baht more can have cancellation and not get charged anything. So how reliable is Agoda? If I book the room now using my CC, nothing gets taken out until just before the date I have booked? And if I change my mind there are no catches? Also does anyone recommend another hotel booking service that's better/cheaper?

Sounds like an OK deal to me. A bit hefty for the first year but 14K per year after that, and they take care everything, including your 90-days reports, that seems pretty good.

Interesting topic and one I've been meaning to ask about myself. In my own case I live in Thailand in a de facto relationship. I'm registered with immigration at my Thai partner's address, she owns the land and house. And I made a will with Thai lawyers that covers my Thailand assets, and names my Thai partner as the sole beneficiary. Would she qualify as NOK in Thailand? And if not is there some way to legally make her my NOK (but not by marriage)? I do have some relatives in Australia but they couldn't give a rat's ass, so if/when I cash in my chips in Thailand having my Thai partner handle all the NOK duties is the best situation.

2) don't antagonize an alpha by looking directly into his eyes I do the exact opposite. I stand there staring right at the filthy things, point my finger at them and talk to them in an aggressive voice..."come on fcka, come and have a go you filthy b*st*d and I'll kick your fckn head in." ...and then watch the filthy things slink away. That's what you do, you out-alpha the alpha.