Tatsujin

Another Apocalypse Now classic line . . .

Kurtz: We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army, and they call me an assassin! Well, what do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin?

Who was craziest???

I know you asked specifically for Chiang Rai, but Dasa Book Cafe have a large stock of used books and you can download their catalog online.

Make your choices, order by email/phone, make payment and get them to deliver by Post. Done this many times with no problems as I don't often get chance to go browse in person!

Hope that helps.

I've got exactly the same problem, but it seems to be something that True does on their end that causes the problems as far as I can see. I've been talking to support on and off now for the last 9 months about this and still not got an answer so basically just turn it on when I need it or off when I need it. Mostly I have their proxy settings enables, but if sites don't load, I turn it off and continue on as normal. Then when they stop loading again, I re-enable and carry on again, lol. Resetting the 'box' makes no difference.

Could you guys list which makes/models of headsets you have bought/use and how you find them in operation . . . I've recently bought a Creative (HS-33) Headset/Mic and it's awful so am looking for some recommendations for a replacement!

Cheers!

< First of all, the government has maintained a correct policy in not interfering with the media. >

I may have missed something, but didn't the Govt. force off the air all "Red" TV and Radio stations that they could? Is this how "freedom of press/speech" works now according to this current Govt.?

I'm not saying that the "red" propaganda on their channels is any better/worse than the "yellow" propaganda we hear on the other TV channels, but to say they have not interfered is blatantly ludicrous.

I tend to ignore things like this said by the English attempting news outlets in Thailand ... especially when they say something contradictory in the same article. I have to assume there is some sort of break down in their English abilities or translations.

The government continues to think in one-dimensional terms in restricting information by the anti-government groups, which eventually led to the shut down of satellites and cable TV and radio stations. That was a wrong decision, which the government had to pay dearly for, even though the inciting media should have been challenged so it would not get away with biased reporting with impunity.

It's all contradictions and misinformation from what I see, hard to get to the real facts sometimes in the way news is reported here whether it's in Thai or in English, but hey, I'm an outsider here just looking in from the sidelines with no influence on the outcome of anything. I have my own thoughts and opinions of what is going on here in Thailand, but generally keep them to myself.

< First of all, the government has maintained a correct policy in not interfering with the media. >

I may have missed something, but didn't the Govt. force off the air all "Red" TV and Radio stations that they could? Is this how "freedom of press/speech" works now according to this current Govt.?

I'm not saying that the "red" propaganda on their channels is any better/worse than the "yellow" propaganda we hear on the other TV channels, but to say they have not interfered is blatantly ludicrous.

The council expects the number of tourists to drop 10 per cent to 12.7 million this year, from 14.1 million last year.

Only a 10% drop? I think these figures that are quoted to be seriously underestimated . . . is this a 'face' thing again? Or simply a 'head in the sand' attitude? Do they not realize the impact that the protests and other issues are having on potential visitors worldwide?

Not sure if you guys have remembered the date today . . .

I'm chatting with my wife now... She is logged in as Online, while appearing Offline to me.

It appears there is some issue.

She appeared offline to you cos she was busy chatting to me at the time and trying to hide from you <grins>.

JOKING!

Bring me any red shirt able to prove he/she knows Exim is not an exotic dish and Temasek a DIY brand and I will start to listen to him/her.

Until then, I just see them as manipulated folks serving the cause of a greedy, dictator-to-be billionaire on the run. They simply do not understand the game they are used for.

My factory staff is tuned all day long on a red shirts radio. Speechs would make you feel like you were listening to a Rwandese radio days before it went ugly.

Wow . . . someone has a high opinion (not) of his Thai staff . . .

After looking forward to this new season for the past 6 months, I was a tad disappointed with the race overall . . . it was boring as hel_l! . . . I ended up switching over and watching the final of hel_l's Kitchen!

Stop messing with the rules . . . it seems like every year it ALL changes over once again.

Your other option is:

Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University

Henri-Dunant Rd., Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.

Tel.+66(0) 2218-9771,3 Fax.+66(0) 2255-3910

Lots of people go here for treatment for their pets or injured soi dogs as they are a teaching hospital and charge next to nothing for the treatments. My rescued soi dog has bad knees and I was quoted 70,000 baht+ per leg to get him fixed up, Chula did it for 3,500 baht each leg!

They are all great people there, care for the animals and do a wonderful job.

Give them a shout.

Tats

One of the first things I did when I got here was to obtain a Thai motorbike and car driving licence - admittedly it was a complete pain in the a$% at the time but well worth the effort in the long run if you are planning on staying here.

I drive a car pretty much every day and have been stopped on only a few occasions, and only twice had to pay a "fine" so far, and having the Thai Driving Licence for sure makes a difference on these occasions. It also helps to be polite, smile and NOT to speak Thai I've found!

As for the motorbike licence, invaluable! If you are a farang driving here on a bike, you stand out very easily and you will get stopped a lot. When I was riding my larger cc bike, I was stopped pretty much every day by the BIB, but NEVER had a fine. They just wanted to see the bike, sit on it and hear the Yoshimura straight through racing can making its noise! lol Give them a nice smile, be friendly, show the licence and it's all good.

Having the licences, makes other things easier also . . . cheap entry to the National Parks etc just to name one as it functions the same as a Thai National ID card. It also (I think) shows some small commitment on my part to do things the correct way.

Worth the time and effort to get them if anyone is thinking about it!

Tats

As Nienke said, try getting in touch with SCAD . . . www.scadbangkok.org

See the headline.

"CEO of McDonalds beaten up by pilot"

- Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonalds, is in hospital with multiple fractures after being assaulted by the pilot of his Thai rented corporate jet over a disagreement regarding the fare.

From his hospital bed Mr Skinner said " We'd already agreed on a fee of $25000 USD per hour to fly me to Thailand but upon arrival the pilot demanded an extra $100000 dollars. When I refused to pay for what was only an 8000 mile journey the pilot left and returned with the co-pilot. They both began to assault me with a bottle of Moet Chandon and a sliver tray of Beluga caviar which they had taken from the plane's galley."

Police soon arrested the pilot, Mr Sombat Nomoralswhatsoever, who was found hiding on the roof of his brother in law's house in Saraburi after having fled the scene of the incident.

The co-pilot, Mr Wirat Iamacheatingbastard, is still on the run.

. . . priceless . . . lol . . . they need you to write the marketing materials I think . . .

My fiancee is Manager of a Travel Agency and from what I have seen here it is ALWAYS cheaper to buy thru an Agent rather than direct thru an airline (unless it's those special lottery 'deals' that AirAsia often run for 1 baht IF you are lucky enough to get one of them and IF it's at a time that suits you! lol). The Agents have pretty good relationships with the airlines and can usually offer a much cheaper price, especially if you can book more than 4 weeks in advance. Leave it til the last minute tho (as most people seem to do) and you'll be sh*t out of luck getting any tickets at all usually.

Tats

I looked into the relative costs (and hassle) of filter systems and ended up using Sprinkle (M.Water Co., Ltd. 02 712 7272) to deliver the big bottles direct to my door. Easy, simple, (relatively cheap) and not bad quality/taste. Even comes with a little battery-powered pump to distill into the smaller bottles

Tats

I also did the online course before coming out here and you are correct to be concerned about having no 'face' time with any students. You've learned the theory but not put it into practice as yet which is hugely different and can be very intimidating.

Knowing myself, I decided to come out here and have some additional training (the Certificate course here: http://www.chichester.ac.th/) which backs up everything I had already learned but also gives practical training about preparing lesson plans and allows you to teach some classes in front of real students. Worth looking into if you are concerned with not actually having taught before.

In terms of actually getting a job, it probably won't make much difference, but it certainly does give the self-confidence a boost to know you've learned the theory AND put it into practice and survived (hopefully!)

Good luck!

Tats

I think manarak will have a visit soon for making so much money so easily whilst working without a work permit <grins> . . . I must try making webpages if it's so easy!

You don't specify exactly where in On Nut you will be, but if you are out on On Nut Road itself for example, lots of people I know use Fitness First out at Seacon Square on Srinagarinda Road. They do some good package deals there and are much better than True Fitness or California (Ripoff) Wow.

Tats

I'm running 3.5.6 with all updates applied . . . when it freezes for me (and there still doesn't seem to be any one specific thing that causes this as yet) I'm unable to do a force quit and have to restart the entire PC . . . such a pain!

I also am having major issues with the latest release of FF. Seems to crash/freeze fairly regularly for no apparent reason at any point (usually at the most inconvenient times of course). It won't even let me do a force quit and I have to restart the entire PC when it happens. I've searched the forums/threads but also not found any solutions.

Tats

Wondered if you guys might find this interesting:

http://www.megaleecher.net/Compare_DNS_Spe...test_DNS_Server

The Google DNS seems to work WAY quicker then the default True setup based on my short testing time.

Tats

The gateway is ALWAYS slow to anything outside Thailand and I think True are only just admitting (or realising) that you will NOT get the same Upload/Download speed if you are visiting a site OUTSIDE Thailand as you would visiting a site INSIDE Thailand. Oh, and guess what, MOST sites are NOT inside Thailand, lol. Their usual practice until recently whenever anyone complains is to point you at the speed test that pings a Bangok server which obviously runs quick, try to do the same to a server outside Thailand and you get a very different story. On the whole tho, when it works, I find the service to be not too bad (mostly) - crosses fingers and hopes he's not jinxed his connection again!

Forgot to add: if you don't already use it, adding the True proxy server "may" help . . . proxy.trueinternet.co.th, port 8080 . . . whenever I have issues, I either turn it on or off, restart the router and it normally fixes things.

As my wife constantly reminds me (she is Thai) . . . the banking system here in Thailand is NOT setup the same as it is in the West and NOTHING is as easy to do here as it is there, especially online banking. She also keeps saying that Thai's (on the whole) don't use online banking for example in the same way as we do in the West and that it is still a relatively new practice here. As with everything in Thailand, one day they will ask for a work permit, another day they won't need it but will ask for something else instead and things seem to change on a daily basis with regards to "rules and regulations". Local offices are always contradicting what Head Office advises or simply don't know how to do what they are supposed to do.

Our most recent 'fun' with them was adding a local UK bank to my online banking account so that I can transfer funds directly to 'home' when required. The usual hoops to jump through (including requiring a signed photocopy with picture of my mother's passport - the recipient of the funds - hard to do considering she is in her 60's, never had a passport or any other form of identification with her photo on it lol) but it got done in the end once I'd put the person in the Local Branch in touch with the right person at Head Office who knew how to go about doing it.

I'm just grateful that things usually CAN get done here with a little persistence and also by not losing your patience too much.