stickman

Siriraj Hospital is the place to go in Bangkok for DNA testing. Good luck.

Need your opinions. Looking to buy a new Camera.

Undecided between a Nikon D90 and a Canon EOS 50D.

I went Canon, simply because when I made the choice Canon had a larger range of SLRs available.

I am happy I made that decision because the photography I like to do nowadays is with low aperture primes - and in this respect, Canon has more available than Nikon.

But frankly, you cannot go wrong with either. They are not the big two in the industry by accident!

The oldest falang story in Thailand.....I have a friend who needs proof his Thai wife is cheating on him...can anyone suggest a good service or investigator please?

In a situation where a married guy living in Thailand feels his wife is cheating on him then surveillance is usually the best method. The use of electronic tracking devices may be be an option. It all depends on the details of the particular case.

The investigator should meet with the client because in the instance where an investigation involves someone married there are various legal issues which the PI should raise and provide an opportunity for the client to discuss, or at the very least be aware of. It is my experience than in cases like this, often the guy WANTS to divorce the wife and if she is cheating on him, that is plenty grounds for divorce in Thailand. HOWEVER, proof is required and what the court requires is fairly conclusive so this should be raised at least. Even video footage of two people entering a hotel room and leaving an hour later may not be adequate grounds to divorce!

In Sukhumvit, Silom and areas where foreigners party or reside, a foreigner could play a part in the surveillance but away from those areas it should really be a Thai operation, perhaps with the Westerner co-ordinating it. To this end, I would second the recommendation about www.ThailandPI.com. It's an American run agency with Thai operatives, interestingly, almost entirely female. They're good and would be who I would contact for an investigation of this type.

I have to admit that I have not read The Big Mango (but I have a bookstore with the same name), but before Bangkok 8 came out, Jake Needham was the most popular local author. People also said that he writes quite well, but John Burdett came along and kind of left him in the dust.

Pretty much anything by Jake Needham, Steve Leather or Chris Moore is good. They are a cut above all the other local authors. Most of Steve's books are set in the UK but his Thailand stuff is all good. Ditto Needham. Chris Moore understands Thailand better than all the authors and his books are almost unique in that they could only be set here. Pretty much everything he has published in the last 5 years has been great.

I am not sure why pepole like to shit on Jake Needham. He is a very accomplished writer and funnily enough, out with Steve Leather tonight Steve speaks very highly of Jake's books and writing ability.

I guess it is that usual Bangkok problem - envy. Jake is a successful guy with a gorgeous, highly intelligent wife and a happy family life. So people speak ill of his books because they are jealous of what he has and what he has achieved. Sad.

Burdett can write but I don't like his books at all.

Forgot to put in my Best Novels, and not asked for, but WORST novel I've ever read, actually never got past first few chapters was something from someone called Jake Needham.

Good old Trink also rubbished it.

The Big Mango?

I actually finished it, god knows why. Some of the most self indulgent crap that I have ever had the misfortune to actually buy.

Yes, I agree. The idea for the "Big Mango" story is quite a good one but it's full of cardboard cutouts and I can't even remember the ending.

Andrew Hicks

The Big Mango is one of only three Bangkok novels that I have read more than once and I could not disagree more.

Jake is one of few Thailand-based novelists who sees through the BS and has the balls to tell it how it is. I know quite a few people, including some other novelists, funnily enough, struggle with that.

Anyone knows if 5D (Mk1) is discontinued or if it still remains in their line up?

The 5D mark 1 is available new at FotoFile for 49,900 baht according to their website.

Sadly it's come in at a somewhat dissapointing price. Early indications were $2500 (86.5k) but Fotofile are selling at 99k. Ebay also seems to be a similar price. On top of this the current hand grip is useless adding a possible further 15k or so. The previous lithium batteries are also redundant as is the remote release.

Actually, the US price is $2700 which in baht at current exchange rates is 92,800 baht. I got one of the first batch from FotoFile and the price was 97,000 baht. I did not even need to negotiate - they immediately knocked 2,000 baht off. I would have happily paid 99k baht. So the Thai price is a little more than the US price but not so much as to make it unreasonably expensive.

Any member got the new MK11 yet?

How are you developing your RAW files?

I got one of the first batch that FotoFile had almost 3 weeks ago. The camera is great and produces STUNNING images. If you "expose to the right" ISO 6400 shots are remarkably clean. Even if you don't, the results are very impressive.

I use Photoshop CS4 to process the RAW files and it works very well indeed.

The Canon employeesat Photofair Bangkok told me the 5D Mk2 will be available here in about two weeks.

Sunny

The 5D 2 arrived this past Tuesday and all units that arrived were sold to those who had pre-ordered. I managed to get my hands on one and it is a very nice machine indeed. The high ISO works really well. I have yet try the video.

The next shipment is due next month.

Why Do U Guys Do It?, support her family that is.

Perhaps they know the consequences to themselves of not handing over the cash.

Any business will fall apart when the cash flow stops.

BINGO! And this is so often exploited....

I operate by the "15 minute rule". If a person is mroe than 15 minutes late then I am out of there. I'm sorry, but my time is precious and I always have things to do. I appreciate some people are willing to hang around but I am not. I do think the OP's checklist was very good however!

The only exception would be if they called me well before the appointed time to let me know that they had been unavoidably delayed. Funny thing is, that has never happened...

why the pound is sinking against a micky mouse currency !? Is there any hope the Thai Baht will fall. This is gonna hurt many Brits either planning to come here or living on UK pensions over here.

Finance Guys please tell us how it really is!

53.8? That is a little optimistic.... For pounds Sterling cash in Bangkok you will get 51.86 baht for every pound you change, according to the Bangkok Bank website!

Just checked the Stickman site and realised the cheeky little gimp has lifted the list from the bangkokbob site, without changing or deleting a single word of the original text. Maybe he had prior permision but I doubt it.

This list of wi-fi hot spots *I* have compiled over the past few years. If it is posted on Bangkok Bob's site - and a quick search does not reveal it there - then it has been copied. Checking the Wayback Machine for updates of my site over the years will prove this to be true. I resent your comments inferring I have copied from another site.

The Bargirls' 10 Commandments run on the main page of the Bangkok Bob site was written by me and nicked from my site too...

There's an Irish guy in some financial difficulty, and he's currently near the entrance to Sukhumvit Soi 25 most days. He sits close to a convenience store there, something similar to a family mart. You'll notice him because he has a cardboard sign looking for financial contributions and explaining his situation. It's a familar story; he lost his passport and money in a taxi. If you could help him out, with some money or even just say hello to him, then I think he'll appreciate it. He's been stuck here a few weeks now, but he's holding up well, as well as you possibly can in these types of situations.

Hmmm, I wrote about this guy in my weekly column a few weeks back... Seems he is another of the eternal beggars. I am sure he could get enough in one hour to call home and ask for them to transfer money for funds home. But no, he chooses to stick with it...

I am currently seeking health/hospitalization insurance to prepare me for inevitable next stone here in Thailand. Not sure how much a 2 or 3 day hospitalization, complete with IV pyelogram or CT scan would cost - could anybody hazard a guess? I need to be sure my insurance has adequate coverage limits.

A friend had the nasty treatment to have a kidney stone removed in BNH hospital several months back. He had a stent inserted for a period and yeah, the pain as he described it bordered on unbearable. I seem to recall the cost of all of the procedures, time in hospital and follow up visits was about 200,000 baht.

the guy probably just needs a place to stay and someone who can get him a job teaching english (Stickman are you there?). if we can start a collection pool, put me down for 100 baht. for all we know, he probably has a book of poems or songs in his back pocket. who knows what magical things he has seen during his journey.

He'll need at least one fresh set of clothes, a haircut, a shave and no doubt a real good shower if he wants to get a teaching job... When you are down on our luck, teaching is the easiest option.

So, that's why you teach.

Taught, not teach.

Does anybody know who read the Nation, or the B P ?

All the Thais I know read Thai newspapers, so who reads these english newspaper beside foreigners ?

I think the problem is the target market. These newspapers may be written in English which leads foreigners to believe that they are targeting the foreign market. Foreigners seem to be the vast majority of people who buy and read The Nation and the Post.

The problem is that so many of the articles are written for a Thai audience and have little appeal to foreigners.

This is one reason the Internet is so popular amongst foreigners here - neither newspaper covers a lot of newsworthy events here in Thailand that interest foreigners.

La Brioche, the cafe / bakery on the ground floor of the Novotel at Siam Square, does a huge Reuben which is served with fries and salad for just 160 baht. It is huge and very, very good.

Anyone who is genuinely friendly with local Thai policemen knows that what is in this book is not just plausible, it probably happened pretty much exactly as it was written.

What is your response?

Do you return the introduction, introducing your wife to this couple?

Ignore the introduction?

Invite the couple to join you both?

Or some other response?

To me this would be a rather brazen thing of someone to do. I would maintain decorum, be polite and keep the exchange as brief as possible. I would not introduce my wife and I would try and extricate myself away from the guy and his floozy as quickly as possible. No way in the world would I either introduce my Mrs or God forbid, ask them to join us.

Most decent women do not want to spend time with their husband's friend if he is with a prostitute - in Thailand OR the west.

I find situations like this awkward and I believe that the fault squarely lies with the lack of discretion on the part of the guy with the prostitute.

Run. No good can come of being with someone like this.

I like to watch rugby at Molly Malone's. Heaps of screens and the venue is large so it doesn't get packed out like say, Wall Street does. Also, if you want to get a bite, the food at Molly's is hard to beat.

If New Zealand (or Australia or South Africa) is taking on England at rughy, I sometimes throw myself into the lion's den, so to speak, and watch it at The Londoner. The problem at the Londoner though is that they seem to have different sport on different TVs and unless it is a huge event, the sound is not always on...which makes it much less enjoyable.

The worst offfender is Central Department Stores who give a 5% discount to tourists. This double pricing scheme is intolerable. Why shouldn't tourists pay just as much as Thais do?

There is also a 5% discount for Thais at Central which is just marketed differently - many Thais have a "Central Card" which gives them 5% discount.

Tourists can also get a VAT refund at Central if their purchases total more than x,000 baht (not sure of the exact amount).

I think a lot of tourists fall into the commercial sex scene. They may not necessarily have come for that in the first place but the availability, ease and the relative friendliness (more so in the past than now) of the bar staff makes it easy to get caught up in it all.