steffi

Oh do tell what kind of watch do you wear? I'm travelling with two offshores at the moment so I'll be very careful about going thru security at the airport.

I never had to take my rings off (I wear 5) for airport security.

Never any problem! But then I don't have any worth 500,000 baht.

Quite so and neither do I although I am very fortunate to wear a ring far in excess of that value and for that matter a watch also, but there again, you and I are not con men obviously.

Without a nestegg back home settling in Thailand is very tough. I don't like the idea of making investments in a country where they can change the rules whenever it suits them and I have no legal recourse to do anything. That's the way I feel about staying here. That said who can afford to retire in London? I know I certainly cannot. My has but he retired around 65 and lives a very "controlled' life and relys on NHS for medical care.

No doubt some are of the understanding that they don't actually own diddleysquat over there but they're willing to spend their last years enjoying holidays there and are fully aware of the situation regarding who actually OWNS the place. But others, especially those in middle years seem to be under the illusion that it's theirs, their life etc.

I find it very hard to believe that any Farang would think that he actually owns the land and house in Thailand.

Seems to me like you have no money and are just bitter about the fact that these guys had the money to spend in the first place.

Good luck in the UK, I was still going to night school when I was 31, it paid huge dividends eventually, enough to buy me a mini mansion in Thailand in fact!.....

It's always interesting to me when you listen to Radio Thailand you can spot the different levels of English proficiency. I can only assume that some of those folks got their jobs thru "sen sai" rather than being the best skilled person for the job. You can definately hear the difference b/w somebody who's studied overseas and somebody else who manufactures their accent but yet still has a hard time reading English. This guy "Charlie" for instance seems to be always trying to manufacture an American accent and so therefore always gets caught up in the words he's reading. Where as some of the women usually sound quite proficient. I can only assume this is the difference b/w education overseas and an international school here in Bangkok. The one guy who does the "sponsored by MCOT" and who use to do ITV news with that guy who moved to Channel 3 was a classic example.

borracho's answer was made to the OP, not to you, he wrote this 10 days before you even started to write in this thread. Thanks god im am pc todaday

Exactly!

If "steffi" can't get the order of the posts straight she's unlikely to have her paperwork in order for a year b-visa either.

I was told exactly the same thing re: Type O visa by the same consulate. It's not fair that nearly every other consulate will grant mulitple entry Type O and the Chicago won't

But hold the show! Steffi this thread is about b-visas! You are aware of the difference aren't you?

Unless you have connections inside the embassy and have all required documentation an "O"-visa is issued in the USA for only 90 days. You can renew this visa for a year visa in Thailand when you submit the appropriate documentation and requirements.

Generally one year "O" visas are issued without re-entry permits(retirees generally stay in country). You can get as many reentry permits as you like from immigration

Yes my only point is that it's apparently trivial to get multiple reentry O's at any other consulates besides the Chicago one.

Yes I know it's a consulate general.. I don't believe I ever said it was an Embassy. My point was I checked with the embassy in DC and the other consulates and they are generally a lot more cooperative when it comes to isssuing multiple entry visas.

There is no thai embassy in Chigago! It is a royal thai consulate general!

Thier web site indicates they do issue one year multiple entry b-visas with the proper paperwork.

If the OP is unable to distinguish between a royal thai embassy and a consulate general it is very likely he didn't have his paperwork in order.

Exactly one week ago I recieved my multiple entry one year b-visa from the LA consulate!

Perhaps the alarm is premature!

I was told exactly the same thing re: Type O visa by the same consulate. It's not fair that nearly every other consulate will grant mulitple entry Type O and the Chicago won't. Secondly I don't believe the 3000 thb story at all and I generally know when I'm being bullshitted but they do it with a straight face at the Chicago consulate.

On top of this they had the audacity to ask if I could help their staff transfer at Narita when we left at the airport and we did but I wish i hadn't.

Its that time of year when my thoughts turn to escaping Songkran and the heat. Clever devil that I am, I have my Non Immigrant B expire this time of year and off to the Chicago embassy for a new one. Imagine my surprise when they issued a Single entry Non Imm B. I protested but they had all sorts of new fax information showing the multiple entry visas could only be issued for an Ed visa. That is the only multiple entry that any embassy can issue.

THERE IS A NEW PROCEDURE.... why does that strike terror in my heart?

Apparently the embassies will only issue single entry. If you want multiple entry one must go to Immigrations in Bangkok and get a special stamp. For only an additional few forms, weeks of standing in line, and 3000 baht, they will stamp your single entry and make it multiple entry. Wanna bet its not that simple?

I have been watching visa regs become more obtuse, more complicated and ultimately much more difficult and expensive in both time and money for the past few years. I think its time I read the writing on the wall and closed things up.

They gave no satisfactory reason just said they cannot which is why I knew they were just being difficult and at the end of the day would rather I pay now and more later instead of just now. Given that my wife can walk into the British consulate and get a multiple entry valid for 2 years visitors visa it really pisses me off when the Thai consulate doesn't cooperate. I rang around the embassy and other consulates and they told me that they shouldn't have any problem issuing multiple entry as they do it all the time. It's just the Chicago consulate that's always difficult. They also told me that they couldn't handle my case and that Chicago had juristiction over my application.

the consulate in Chicago will not issue multiple entry non immigrant visas. I've been married for 5 years and have all the documentation but they still won't do it without providing a satisfactory reason.

Do you have any idea what a "satisfactory reason" might be? Normally visiting your wife would be considered a good reason but if you are under age 50 there may be suspicion you plan to stay (rather than visit) and work under the radar so they would only want to issue single entry and have you extend your stay at Immigration (this seems to be common at most Official Consulates these days). But are you saying they will issue multi entry to those who prove themselves (such as offshore oil workers and such)?

Yeah it's amazing to me that the Thais buy this recycled garbage. It's usually a woman arguing with another woman or running around saying Khun Mae Ka a lot. It's so boring and when they take people who obviously wouldn't been caught dead near a rice field and pretend that they are working class then I usually have had enough. These people are so pampered it's not even close to being funny.

What is the name of this programme?

I usually have a tolerance period of around 60 seconds for Thai soap operas sometimes I can hold out for 5 minutes. After this period, I am forced into shouting and gesticulating at the TV or my girlfriend pointing out how ridiculous and stereotyped it is. My feelings are never reciprocated.

Join the club.

They are all bloody unbearable to me.

Be advised that the consulate in Chicago will not issue multiple entry non immigrant visas. I've been married for 5 years and have all the documentation but they still won't do it without providing a satisfactory reason.

I am sure you can help me...out of urgent need I would like to know if Honorary Thai Consulates (Honorary Thai Consulate in Innsbruck/Austria) are also authorized to issue regular non immigrant visas!

Thank you so much for your help!

Well customer service on the 5th floor said there wasn't one there but are you refering to the actual space in the department store or the mall in general re: basement? I did look in the basement and couldn't see any Daiso there.

They said they have them at Pinklao and Silom rd only.

3m Scotch offers something similar but each one is 8"'s long and you pay something like 90 thb for a pack of 5. It's not exactly what I'm after B2S usually carries this one though.

A little more digging and we have

Name : SIAMSQUARE

Address : 266/11-13 Siamsquare Soi3, RamalRd., Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Floor area : 5,400ft2(500m2)

Opened : 31 May 2003

Name : Central RAMA II

Address : 128 Moo6, Samae Dum Sub-District, Bang Khunthian, Bangkok 10150

Floor area : 4,300ft2(400m2)

Opened : 31 October 2003

Name : Central PINKLAO

Address : Central Pinklao, Junction X, F1, 5 7/222 Baromrachonnanee Rd., Arunamariw, Bangkok-Noi, Bangkok 10700

Floor area : 5,400ft2(500m2)

Opened : 30 July 2004

Name : Jusco Ratchada

Address : C/O Siam Jusco Co., Ltd Ratchadapisek Rd., Dindang Dindang Bangkok 10400

Floor area : 8,600ft2(800m2)

Opened : 30 July 2004

Name : SERI CENTER

Address : Seri Center Fl.G Srinakarin Rd., Bangkok 10250

Floor area : 1,100ft2(100m2)

Opened : 10 June 2005

Name : Fashion Island

Address : 5/5-6 Moo 7 Fashion Island Floor B, Ramindra Rd., Kannayao, Bangkok 10230

Floor area : 2,200ft2(200m2)

Opened : 12 November 2005

Name : Central City Bangna

Address : 1091 Moo 12, Room No. A206-A207, Central City Bangna 2nd Floor, Bangna-Trad Rd., Bangna, Bangkok

Floor area : 1,100ft2(100m2)

Opened : 1 December 2005

Name : HOME PRO SUVARNABHUMI

Address : 99/28 ROOM NO.RT-6,FL1,MOO 1 RACHADHEVA,BANGPLEE,SAMUTPRAKARN 10540

Floor area : 2,500ft2(200m2)

Opened : 25 September 2006

Name : PHUKET

Address : 47 TILOK UTHIT 1RD, T TALAD YAI, PHUKET

Floor area : 1,800ft2(170m2)

Opened : 19 January 2007

Name : THANIYA PLAZA

Address : 62 THANIYA BLDG., FL.2, SILOM RD., BANGKOK

Floor area : 1,300ft2(120m2)

Opened : 5 February 2007

Name : HOME PRO PETCHKASEM

Address : 28 MOO 11, HOME PRO PETCHKASEM BLDG., BANGKOK

Floor area : 970ft2(90m2)

Opened : 12 February 2007

Name : Rimping Supermarket(Nim City Deli Branch)

Address : 199/8 Mahidol Rd,T.Haiya A.Muang Chiang Mai 50100

Floor area : 1,700ft2(160m2)

Opened : 16 March 2007

Name : SRIRACHA

Address : 81/1-2 JERMJOMPOL RD., SRIRACHA 20110

Floor area : 1,700ft2(160m2)

Opened : 31 March 2007

Name : AMATA NAKORN

Address : 700/205 Moo 1, Klongtamru, Chonburi 20000

Floor area : 540ft2(50m2)

Opened : 8 April 2007

I clearly remember there is (was) one in the basement. But then again, that was more than a year ago.

well today found out the hard way that lad prao doesnt have a Daiso

re: tv drama on channel 5

And that thai actress who always has that confused look on face whose skin is whiter than white.

well today found out the hard way that lad prao doesnt have a Daiso

You mean the actual store itself and not the plaza per se? Ladprao where in the department store would I find it then?

Supersports floor? I've seen something that's 8" made by 3m but that's not exactly what I'm looking for.

I'll take a look for this store next time I'm in a Central Department Store.

Just came back from IT Square and there wasn't anything there.

They're located in many shopping malls. You just need to look around. All the stuff in the store is Japanese, and all products are sold at the same price.

The shop is called Daiso or Daizo. They're in Central Department Stores (Ladprao, Pinklao, Rama 2, etc.)

We had a small snake in our kitchen this morning. Just remember it being grey in color with hints of light green.

It was quite young.

Anyway idea what kind?

Didn't have a large head or anything.

This was out in Don Muang. Security removed it and threw it over the fence.

You mean the actual store itself and not the plaza per se? Ladprao where in the department store would I find it then?

Supersports floor? I've seen something that's 8" made by 3m but that's not exactly what I'm looking for.

I'll take a look for this store next time I'm in a Central Department Store.

Just came back from IT Square and there wasn't anything there.

They're located in many shopping malls. You just need to look around. All the stuff in the store is Japanese, and all products are sold at the same price.

The shop is called Daiso or Daizo. They're in Central Department Stores (Ladprao, Pinklao, Rama 2, etc.)

where are they then?

I've seen them at the little Japanese stores that sells all kinds of stuff for 50-60 baht.

i'm talking about the kind of thing you often see on phone chargers.

These can be bought in packets. Anybody seen them for sale anywhere in Bangkok?

anybody upgrade to .26? rumored to be a lot of improvements.

I have a JAF box so I'm waiting for them to put out the full firmware release and then I'll flash my DTAC branded N95.

To clarify the Air Asia flight was booked over the phone not the internet

This could just be coincidence but the very same day I booked my air asia flight with a card I don't use that often and one that had only just been reissued with a new expiry date I find that there were three fraudulent charges charged to my card

How did you book this flight. With your computer? In a Internet Shop? Using free or not secure WIFI? Your computer mai got a Virus, that sends your Cardinformation to a thirdparty. I highly doubt that your data was missused in Conection with Air Asia (it wouldn't just be you, there would be thousends of people with this problem).

Just a thought.

Edit: You just answerd my questions. No Idea if Narita or Air Asia

Can i just clarify that you all now think its unlikely that the fraud had anything to do with booking online with air asia?

The card was newly issued ie. new expiry date, 3 digit code.

I used it in two locations prior to the fraudulent charges appearing. One was at Narita airport and the other was Thai Air Asia over the phone requiring the 3 digit code. The very same day the Thai Air Asia charges posted additional fraudulent charges were posted.

I do have a Bank Of America credit card actually but the credit limit is quite low. I'm sure if I asked they'd raise it. honestly I've lived in the US using debit cards it's never been a problem until now... I guess I learnt why credit cards are more useful. Nonetheless I think I've had it with Bank of America now though. The bigger they get the less you're likely to get from them.

Just to follow up on this topic...

well Bank Of America clearly doesn't have my interests in mind... they told me they put a temporary hold on the card but then subsequently released it which meant additional charges went thru.I've tried three times to dispute these charges and the first time I clearly identified everything that was fraudulent and then the prepaid mobile ran out so they didn't process anything. Tonight I ring again talk to three people tell each which transactions are fraudulent and authenticate with the same questions with each person. Honestly they seem to make it as hard as possible so you'll give up. Then finally they tell me I have to

1. contact the merchant for each transaction otherwise there's a chance the claim will be denied not something i'm prepared to do quite frankly. what are the chances a merchant is going to discuss this with you on the phone? I ask you.

2. I have to return a document they need to send to my mailing address and if I don't they will cancel my claim.

...

so bottom line is they simply aren't interested in helping you when it really counts. Fortunately for me they've closed the card now and there's a very good chance that when I get back I'll be closing my accounts. I've lived in US long enough to know what their game is here and that they really aren't sincere about helping me resolve this issue.

Fortunately the amount is manageable otherwise it would be considerably more stressfull than what it is. At this time I've spent as much in prepaid minutes as the charges themselves.

I ask because I need to make some calls to the US to dispute some check card charges. BTW: BoA makes it very difficult to do this for good reason. Tried already and because I ran out of prepaid minutes even though I have successfully identified all charges they still didn't process the claim.

I just need some reliable free wifi for a while with Voip ports open.

Got caught in the rain today with a very expensive phone in my pocket so can anybody tell me the best place to buy Ziplock bags? Preferably in assorted sizes. The kind that are essentially water proof, at least for falling rain.

MBK is selling N95's for 29,000+ thb at the moment which is a little high. You'd expect them to be undercuting AIS and co. Anyway, you can find them for 26,990 at the phone shops on the food center floor at Big C Rajadamri. That's the lowest price I've seen in Thailand so far. Yesterday I even saw a shop in MBK drop theirs on the floor but it seemed to hold up quite well. I'd recommend a silicone case over the hard plastic as I've already seen the later scratch my phone. MBK has silicone cases avaliable. They are sold unbranded in clear plastic bags for either N95 or N83 models.

It is noticably faster than the N80. I'm happy with my decision to trade up from the N80.

It's significantly more responsive.

Steffi, I assume you have given the N-95 a good test drive by now. I have an N-80 that I'm very happy with but would upgrade to the N-95 if/when better GPS maps are available. In any case I'm interested in the speed. How does it compare with the N-80?

hrmm.. might have to bite the bullet and get me one of these too then... perhaps Nokia fixed the speed issues w/ their phones? [N73 here I need to get rid of...]

FYI I've managed to do backups of my N80 running PC Suite under VMWare Fusion on my mac using drivers from the bootcamp drive cd so it can't be all that bad. But yes using the phone over a data cable and drag and drop sounds like it might be a whole lot easier.

Another itunes/ipod like feature I'd like to see in my N95's music player is the ability to resume a track where you left off. Very useful for podcasts that you come back to later. Currently it just starts from the beginning again.

PC Suite has some nice features I would like to use such as music synchronization and firmware updates.

The only problem is, it was apparently hacked together by a bunch of monkeys.

Yesterday, I tried the music sync - simplest of things one would think. I add mp3s, drag them onto the phone, excellent. Except PC Suite crashes midway through. And except that once it does work, the new mp3s don't show up anywhere on the phone. Ok, they do, one just has to do select "options" in the music player and select "update music library". Why, I don't know.

Next nasty surprise: My Bluetooth connection, which previously worked, is now not working anymore. The error is "COM port is already in use!". Yeah, thanks for that.

I figured maybe PC Suite decided to take over the bluetooth connecting functions from my (very nice) WIDComm bluetooth control panel. So I try "connect" on the PC Suite, which wants me to "set up the connection". That's just stupid - it already knows my phone type and model, it's already bluetooth-authorized on both sides, and still wants to do set up?

At this point I gave up and did a system restore to remove all those Nokia processes and restarted. I was greeted by an empty screen, thanks to PC Suite Explorer was hanging on startup and I had to manually shoot down the process, start a new one, got a half-functioning explorer back, good enough to uninstall PC Suite. Now, thankfully, everything is back to normal.

So PC Suite is great except that

- It automates the wrong things

- It installs itself all over the system

- It crashes - syncing music should be the simplest of tasks, really, as should be connect to BT modem.

- It doesn't really work as expected - music synced to the phone doesn't show up in the music library by itself

- It disables your Bluetooth connection

- Last not least, after a software update, one has to set up the phone again

If I had a lot of time on my hands and were bored I would bother to find out in which ways the other functions don't work - but I really don't. You have been warned.

The music sync thing sounds like a trivial annoyance but I just don't understand how this happens - there is a perfectly working example on how this should be done in iTunes/iPod, they'd just have to copy that. How hard is that for a company with the resources of Nokia?

/rant

Ok so I have heard it's a lot better when using a USB cable. Apparently it's just unable to deal with the whole Bluetooth thing. Which has been built into Nokias for a few years now, but ok.