bangkokrick

Mai I will make you feel a whole lot better because these are the figures that my travel agent quoted me for a tourist visa.

Cost for 1 day = 5,500.00

Cost for 2 days = 5,000.00

Cost for 3 days = 4,500.00

I went for the 2 day as I had to be there pronto. Ferking extortion compared to the online booking. I was charged a 100 quid compared to a 100 dollars on line. In my case I did not have the option. Take no notice of the wind up merchants as i am sure that no one likes to be ripped off whether they admit that or not.

I seriously doubt he will max out any speed with a freebie (but it is not clear is this is limited to one connection or not - but suspect it is as the 30 day free offer is only two connections). I would highly advise use of SABnzbd+ for downloading (free and excellent) and use of http://nzbmatrix.com for finding nzb files. Much easier than downloading hundreds of files to get one download.

What kind of things can be downloaded Lop? Music, movies? I have never heard of a NZB file before.

Thanks

Well I'm glad you had a nice time in Vietnam,but I have to agree with "Pattayaparent" that it was probably your attitude at the Vietnamese Embassy that resulted in the incident.Cetainly from your postings here it appears you can be gratuitously offensive when speaking to people who make a perfectly reasonable post.I've never had a problem with the Vietnamese Embassy in Wireless Road when I've used them,nor do I know anyone else who has.

I to have never had a problem at the Vietnam embassy. And seeing how the OP already knows the pricing structure and how you can do it on the cheap, theres not much point bemoaning it. The rules and fees are the same for everyone so i cant see how your degrees of mugness had anything to do with it.

Anyways, i would think there'd be very few embassies worldwide that would grant you a visa after loosing your cool. And if it had been a Thai embassy they might have even arranged for some motorcy guys to beat you up when you left the building!!

I have also never previously had a problem at the Vietnam embassy of at any other embassy for that matter. (Saudi Arabia excluded). Being polite goes a long way.

I am in Vietnam at the moment and I use the following link.

Online visa

I applied before 8am and got my authorisation letter the same day at around 2 pm. I applied for a multi entry 3 month business visa and the cost was 105 USD. I had previously paid double that for a visa from the embassy, so you do have a point. Print out the 3 pages attached to the return mail and show them at check in and away you go. When you arrive at the other end you also have to fill in another form, but this can be downloaded from the web site, so fill it in before you leave. You must also attach a photo to the form.

Be aware that people are queuing at the pick up desk so don't get in that queue. Go to the visa application desk first give them your form and go to the 'pick up' desk to collect your visa. It is not very well organised or sign posted. The whole thing takes about 20 min's depending of course on the number of applicants.

Cheers, Rick

Of course it was tea money as it always is. In all my time in Thailand I have never known anyone defend the BIB to the outlandish extent that you do. They are criminals and everyone knows that with the probable exception of you. Why do you defend blatant corruption by a force that should be there to protect people,but instead fill their own pockets? Every post that you make and every topic that you reply to has the same feel to it. Is your brother in law part of the 'serve and collect' mafia?

Yawn i am just waiting for the 'if you don't like it *deleted* off home to your Utopian country of birth' standard remark

"Tea money" is a bribe. It's what you pay to a corrupt traffic cop on the street for not issuing you a ticket (yes, traffic cops are highly corruptible -- but those paying off cops are just as corrupt as the cops are. Takes two to tango when it comes to offering/accepting a bribe).

Anyway, when you take a ticket and pay for it at the police station, it is an official fine and receipted as such.

Do you not know the difference? Perhaps you don't.

It didnt get receipted and money went to his pocket....

No change there then Monty, although it seems to be very difficult for some people to understand. Glad you cleared this one up.

Cant reply directly too many quotes.

Sorry is this an argument. I thought it was a discussion? It is a no win situation as you should know, whether you pay to nice police man on the spot or go to the station. I usually ask for a ticket, but that's just me.

Should we not differentiate between tea money and corruption?

Corruption = paying money to receive a service which you either would not be entitled to get OR paying for a service that you should get for free but will not get if you don't pay the bribes...

Tea Money (in this case) = paying small amounts to omit being held responsible for something you did wrong. Of course, their is a small step to extortion when they take you out for nothing just to get their tea money...

But is it not the main problem that these guys just don't get paid a living salary? When they get 10K a month but need 5K for the child's tuition and should be supporting the family back home... what else can they do? They can't work more than two jobs a day...

If you want to get rid of the tea money, then Thai authorities must start to pay their employees a wage for living...

BTW: If you look at the Transparency International List of corrupt countries, then Thailand is in the middle field, together with countries like Greece... and if you analyze the list, you will see that corruption is the higher as average salaries in the countries are lower...

Finally, someone with a brain joins the discussion.

Tea money is a totally optional convenience payment.

If it offends you, you don't have to pay it. Take a ticket, pay the official fine, and get a receipt.

Right...I wonder how many people actually opt to do that. Perhaps Rick can name a single "outraged" Thai who would gladly do so?

My wife for one hates the bastards and lets them know that when we get stopped for being totally legal in every which way. You want to go with it fine by me, but corruption is the major player in holding Thailand back.

I don't really think that the OP was being too serious in his post by the way because that's just the way it is.

We're not talking about being "totally legal".

We're talking about being stopped for committing an offense.

What does your wife do in that case? She offers a bribe, doesn't she?

Pretty much the same whether you do or not. The fav is changing lanes which is quite impossible most times in Bangkok because the lanes are already jammed. Well if he saw you do it you did it, hey Richard. My wife just out of interests sake argues like hell with them and i respect her for that. They are after all Thais and probably grew up in the same neck of the woods.

They are SAVING money by paying bribes. How thick are you, Rick? As a brick?

Scenario 1 (no corruption): you commit a traffic infraction, are issued a ticket, have your license taken away and have to retrieve it at the police station after paying a 500 baht fine. You get black marks applied to your record which accumulate and could eventually mean that your license is suspended.

Scenario 2 (with corruption): you commit a traffic infraction, palm the cop a couple red kings, and are on your merry way.

I don't know how to make it clearer for you, Ricardo. Every Thai I know would be outraged if he WEREN'T allowed to pay a bribe that would save him time and money.

I can get out some crayolas and make a picture for you, if it would help you understand?

By taking the time to explain that it just show how naive you are. Lets state the obvious shall we. It will take a thicker pencil to draw me Mr know it all and one that by all accounts totally supports corruption.

Glad to hear you'll be taking a firm anti-corruption stand next time the cops pull you over. You'll say, "no sir, I'm not giving you a bribe of 200 baht. I'd much rather you take my license, and I'll come down to the cop shop tomorrow to pay you 500 baht and get a receipt."

Take a witness, will you?

I will hopefully take you as it appears that you have many close friends in our well respected police service. Maybe you can just bore them to death in a very short period of time?

Should we not differentiate between tea money and corruption?

Corruption = paying money to receive a service which you either would not be entitled to get OR paying for a service that you should get for free but will not get if you don't pay the bribes...

Tea Money (in this case) = paying small amounts to omit being held responsible for something you did wrong. Of course, their is a small step to extortion when they take you out for nothing just to get their tea money...

But is it not the main problem that these guys just don't get paid a living salary? When they get 10K a month but need 5K for the child's tuition and should be supporting the family back home... what else can they do? They can't work more than two jobs a day...

If you want to get rid of the tea money, then Thai authorities must start to pay their employees a wage for living...

BTW: If you look at the Transparency International List of corrupt countries, then Thailand is in the middle field, together with countries like Greece... and if you analyze the list, you will see that corruption is the higher as average salaries in the countries are lower...

Finally, someone with a brain joins the discussion.

Tea money is a totally optional convenience payment.

If it offends you, you don't have to pay it. Take a ticket, pay the official fine, and get a receipt.

Right...I wonder how many people actually opt to do that. Perhaps Rick can name a single "outraged" Thai who would gladly do so?

My wife for one hates the bastards and lets them know that when we get stopped for being totally legal in every which way. You want to go with it fine by me, but corruption is the major player in holding Thailand back.

I don't really think that the OP was being too serious in his post by the way because that's just the way it is.

Of course it was tea money as it always is. In all my time in Thailand I have never known anyone defend the BIB to the outlandish extent that you do. They are criminals and everyone knows that with the probable exception of you. Why do you defend blatant corruption by a force that should be there to protect people,but instead fill their own pockets? Every post that you make and every topic that you reply to has the same feel to it. Is your brother in law part of the 'serve and collect' mafia?

Yawn i am just waiting for the 'if you don't like it fuc_k off home to your Utopian country of birth' standard remark

"Tea money" is a bribe. It's what you pay to a corrupt traffic cop on the street for not issuing you a ticket (yes, traffic cops are highly corruptible -- but those paying off cops are just as corrupt as the cops are. Takes two to tango when it comes to offering/accepting a bribe).

Anyway, when you take a ticket and pay for it at the police station, it is an official fine and receipted as such.

Do you not know the difference? Perhaps you don't.

I have paid both many times and know that it goes into the same kitty. Perhaps you don't? I got stopped that much in Bangkok by the same cop ( i use the term loosely) that I offered to open a standing order so he did not waste so much of my time. Oddly enough he never stopped me again. Even most of the Thais hate this kind of corruption, maybe you don't know that either.

It sounds like you don't know much of anything.

If an official ticket has been written up and a receipt given, the fine does not go into anyone's pocket.

Where do you get this stuff from?

Thais hate being able to get out of expensive tickets, having their licenses confiscated, and having a black mark on their records by paying a much cheaper bribe directly to a cop?

How do you figure?

If they stopped this practice tomorrow, and everyone had to have their license confiscated, go down to the police station to retrieve it, have a black mark on their record, and pay a much higher fine -- how do you think that would go down?

Would "outrage" possibly describe it?

LOL.

As usual a surreal reply. I honestly don't believe that you even live in Thailand or have even visited, with the comments that you make on this board. I figure that Thais hate to be ripped off by their own Country men especially people in a position of trust. It may be small money to foreigners, but to Thais it can be rather a large chunk of their daily earnings.

If they stopped the practice tomorrow there would be far fewer Thai people killed in road accidents. Period.

Of course it was tea money as it always is. In all my time in Thailand I have never known anyone defend the BIB to the outlandish extent that you do. They are criminals and everyone knows that with the probable exception of you. Why do you defend blatant corruption by a force that should be there to protect people,but instead fill their own pockets? Every post that you make and every topic that you reply to has the same feel to it. Is your brother in law part of the 'serve and collect' mafia?

Yawn i am just waiting for the 'if you don't like it *deleted* off home to your Utopian country of birth' standard remark

"Tea money" is a bribe. It's what you pay to a corrupt traffic cop on the street for not issuing you a ticket (yes, traffic cops are highly corruptible -- but those paying off cops are just as corrupt as the cops are. Takes two to tango when it comes to offering/accepting a bribe).

Anyway, when you take a ticket and pay for it at the police station, it is an official fine and receipted as such.

Do you not know the difference? Perhaps you don't.

I have paid both many times and know that it goes into the same kitty. Perhaps you don't? I got stopped that much in Bangkok by the same cop ( i use the term loosely) that I offered to open a standing order so he did not waste so much of my time. Oddly enough he never stopped me again. Even most of the Thais hate this kind of corruption, maybe you don't know that either.

Of course it was tea money as it always is. In all my time in Thailand I have never known anyone defend the BIB to the outlandish extent that you do. They are criminals and everyone knows that with the probable exception of you. Why do you defend blatant corruption by a force that should be there to protect people,but instead fill their own pockets? Every post that you make and every topic that you reply to has the same feel to it. Is your brother in law part of the 'serve and collect' mafia?

Yawn i am just waiting for the 'if you don't like it *deleted* off home to your Utopian country of birth' standard remark

Always the alternative view Richard eh! I suggest you take a sense of humour pill.

Yingluck actually resembles a submarine because she is way beyond her depth in the position of 3rd Prime minister of Thailand.Taking big bruv and Chalerm into account.

Yingluck is a self made billionaire

I agree. When it comes to redeeming points, for almost everything from credit cards to airlines flight awards, it doesn't make you feel like the privileged members at all. You're more like a second class citizen. They are so many conditions and everything is very difficult to understand. And once you feel like you have to ask for your rights, they try to make you feel embarrassed once you misunderstood these restrictions.

I have to disagree because I just used my Thai air miles to book 2 return flights to Bali. I called the ROP number and spoke in English to a very pleasant lady and the whole thing was done in less than 10 minutes. The flight dates on the tickets are also changeable at a cost of 1000 THB. Easy!

Abhisit positions himself as the (seen) leader of the prevent Thaksin from returning side.

Abhisit's criticism of the transfers wouldnt be as hollow if his government hadnt made many many times more to fill positions with their political mates.

Abhisit's call on the government to state they were not treating Thaksin specially would not ring so hollow if his government hadnt made Thaksin a special case with a foreign minister dedicated to houding the man around the globe while doing utterly nothing to bring home such notables as Kamnan Poh and Vattana who reportedly reside just over the border.

Two sides of the same coin with power reversed but this time by a decisive electoral decision. One would think that Abhisit would be concentrating on a different issue to that which saw his party thumped at the recent election if he were looking to future electoral success. Maybe he isnt looking at that route to power however

They were hardly thumped, but yes they are in power and the sole reason id to bring back Thaksin how ever much they try to deny it. Yingluck has hardly been vocal since she got into power, except for matters including her brother.

Not so much bribing a Policeman, more of case of being relieved of your cash. It's happened to me many times when I lived in Bangkok. Not in Pattaya as yet.

Absolutely not and it's very unfair to say that they do

^ the first one, in Chao Phraya, was reported incorrectly - not a foreigner - link to updated reported

Pathum Thani police on Tuesday retrieved the body of a Thai woman from the Chao Phraya river . . . .

Blond hair and blue eyes ?

Obviously, someone (the press, more likely than not) got it wrong the first time. Not that hard to understand, is it?

Well yes it is. She either did or she did not, it's hardly a small detail is it. RIP to the victim.

It is NOT a fact. People dying from old age and natural causes --which are included in the figures -- do NOT make a place "dangerous".

I think that you might look at this from a different perspective if you were one of the victims.

Those things have happened since Patts started to evolve during the Vietnam war, so whats your point?

The point is I'm hoping to hear some of the sad stories that strangers have told other people over the dinner table.

This isnt a thread about the relative merits of scheming bar girls; that's already been done to death.

I was hoping to read some and you made a good start. Good thread mate.

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

Much to my surprise the other day I got a True 3.5 G signal on Jomtien beach road. i thought that they only had 3 G?

Egauge, I have a strong feeling that you are winding everybody up on this thread, but I will answer any way.

The chances are that if you find her to be so stunning i guess that a lot of other guys in the past, present and probably future will be the same. I personally know a girl in Pattaya that is also stunning and has up to half a dozen men on the go at any given time. Not saying it's not going to work out but the chances are slim in Pattaya.

Good luck,

Rick