syd barrett

When you are in the U.K. and buy a new laptop; just ask for a VAT form when you buy it, (All stores have them) they will fill it out and stamp it, then you fill in your bit and when you leave the U.K. customs will give you your 17.5% VAT back.

The conditions are that you are NOR that is not been in the UK for more than 365 days in the last 3 years. Bingo!

I have done it for expensive mobile phones as well. At London Heathrow, they give you cash back, at Manchester you post your receipt into a customs letterbox and wait for the cheque, better to get it paid into your bank account by BACS though; the postal system in the LOS is !!**£**

I registered my SIM card today at Telewiz on the second floor of DOTCOM City next to the Friendship supermarket on Pattaya Tai (South Road).

I had to produce my original passport, and the girl filled out a form and I signed it. The whole procedure took just a few minutes.

It is better to act now IMHO; rather than wait for the mad rush and 199 baht charge which will begin as December 31st deadline approaches.

To all you guys, the knowledge here is great, it took me one hour to read the posts, just a bit of advice please.....

My front end is a REGA 3 with a K9 and in the UK I had an Arcam Alpha amp and great TANNOY Jupiters.

I have only brought my REGA over to Thailand, and want a nice amp and speakers; what do you suggest? I know this is old inferior stuff, I am so out of touch. But I miss the great sound, I have a rubbish cheap Hi-Fi and it is driving me nuts.....

Any links would be great, to save time. Thanks.

WITHNAIL: I think you are little harsh; it is quite shocking to see the ATM 'snatch back your cash'; Don't forget that this gentleman is an OAP from Britain with spectacles and a weekly 'allowance' of 8,500 baht. If I were in his position I would be worried about the financial loss.

There are ex-pats in Pattaya who over-react at possible financial loss; when in fact there is absolutely no need to worry, as I explained in an earlier post, his cash will be recredited to his account.

I am amazed at how much 'air time' he got on the news channel.

In Pattaya there are many tourists from every country with room temperature IQ's but we should not ridicule them, we should help them.

It is a bit alarming when this happens, it has happened to me three times in three different countries. The money is recredited to the account from anything to 3-10 working days.

ATM's that dispense cash on overseas accounts do have standards, The machine has computer records that show the cash being 'taken back' and from whose account. This happens to hundreds of people worldwide every day, after initial panic, the customer concludes he is swindled and will lose his cash, that is not the case. Banks are businesses and don't want to lose customers over 8,500 baht.

QUOTE:Lots of the workers have a girlfriend/wife & children at home waiting for them!

I bet the wife/girlfriend doesn't know which way to turn!?

Back on topic; I am still not seeing any printed reports of this possible murder story; any more information?

Latest reports coming through to me suggest a different story; The lady was a cashier in Pattaya Land; she was receiving the attentions of a fellow resident of her apartments on Soi Xzyte and told her boss, because she feared he was obsessed with (her).

The fellow Thai resident gentleman was (allegedly) a heavy drug user and it is unclear that the motive was theft or sexual; as reports I am receiving was that her clothing was semi-removed when her body was discovered.

As I understand it, she lived alone and one Thai gentleman is in custody.

A deceased Thai lady, was removed from Ruay Sameuh apartment room 308 yesterday August 11th 2005. She was wrapped in a bed sheet and hidden under the bed. People's suspicions arose after a smell and employers became concerned after she failed to show for work.

A Thai gentleman from the same apartment block is helping police with their enquiries.

The Ruay Sameuh apartments are located on Soi Xzyte near the disco of the same name.

I have spoken to many Arabs who visit Pattaya, they all seem to enjoy their holiday here, stay at hotels and wear western clothing and integrate with other tourists. It seems the problem develops when they decide to stay.

I have had two bad experiences in 'Arab Town' and avoid it now; I can smell the menace in the air, I guess they might be involved in nefarious activities.

If you visit some Middle Eastern countries there are many 'working girls' there, who were recruited from the orient. I know of a few girls who have 'gone to Bahrain or Dubai or Muscat' etc. I fear some might become slaves in these states.

This news story is on Thai T.V. does anyone have more information?

When I first came to Pattaya a few years ago, Soi Bukhaow was just beginning to take off and just along from Soi Diana was a great bar, it had no name , it was a collection of tables and chairs, open air 24 hour style, with posters and pictures and all manner of junk, the toilet was real Heath Robinson, ie. pee in a water container and watch it go down a hose, then there was a T.V. always on and it said photo's 5 baht on a sign outside, because it was just about the craziest bar in the world. The manager was a Thai with an Osama-style beard called Lung Nort or Uncle Beard in English.

Then I went home and it was bulldozed. Now there is a tower block in its place....does anyone know where 'Lung Nort' went? Did he relocate somewhere else in Pattaya?

Second, I used to like some of the bars on Soi 7, some were crazy, but others friendly and consistent, one such bar was called the 'Lipstick Bar' managed by British Ron and Thai Peaw. Again I went back home returned and it had gone....any clues anyone?

I expect bars to come and go, but it seems that there is never any warning, I can never understand why, bars fold and close so quickly, and some stores as well!

If you live in or around Pattaya, forget Poipet. I have just discovered an excellent visa run to PROM or PONG NAM RON (same place.

Left Pattaya Soi 13 after a hearty full English breakfast, two fried eggs, three rashers of delicious bacon, black pudding, genuine Cumberland sausage, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, baked beans, kidneys and two slices of proper toast, all washed down with a full pot of Yorkshire tea, piping hot with milk and sugar available. Napkins provided were 100% linen, toothpicks were elm, place mats were unstained; and table service was cheerful and discreet at 0630 hours.

We disembarked at 0712 hours and arrived at the border at 1019 hours. The border was deserted and there were no beggars; not one! The visa process for the six of us 'Pattaya dwellers' took just 26 minutes, during this time we sat at a table and drank complimentary tea or coffee provided by the hostess. There was no queue, we left it all to the 'fixer'. A toothless, giggling Cambodian gentleman was nearby selling cheap cigarettes.

We boarded the bus at 1052 and were given a tray of food (from a cool box); two

delicious ham and cheese sandwiches, excellent bread, a potato salad, a hard boiled egg; (yellow not black), a bag of crisps, a fruit salad and a slice of Jamaican ginger cake. A 500ml bottle of water was also provided.

There are clean, free toilets at the border.

We arrived back at Pattaya at exactly 1416 a trip lasting 7 hours and 4 minutes.

On board the bus, four movies were shown; I watched just one: 'I Robot' which was excellent viewing.

I cannot name the company who arranges the above said visa run, but anyone with an ounze of gumption will find the bar. Cost 2400 baht. Fantastic!

Approximately 50% of appendix operations are not needed, the prior pain just being bad guts. If you don't get appendicitis in the first 35 years of life, you are unlikely to. A good test for appendicitis is lie flat on your back and attempt to bring your right knee up towards your right shoulder. If you can do it without excess pain, then it is unlikely it is appendicitis. Fever is often present with appendicitis.

But of course to be on the safe side see a Doctor. If you live in Pattaya go to Sattahip Sirrikitt hospital: Total cost approx 7-8 thousand baht, prior to surgery request that your appendix is sent to pathology for final analysis.

Kerryd: Fair post, but a just a few more thoughts;

I think you know of different girls than I. Most girls in the 'trade' in my experience don't carry much cash, indeed they have very little 'to hand'. They spend what they earn at lightning speed, plus they owe here and there, and usually they are scraping around for the 20 baht motorcycle taxi-fare to 'work'.

That is not say they don't 'have' money, they just don't hold on to it, and the word 'savings' is laughable (to them).

Yes; I am sure there were a dozen other 'suckers' that she could call by phone to secure her 1000 baht 'fine': that is not my gripe. I am saddened that 'working girls' in bona fide establishments are fined for 'working'.

She was not half naked wandering around, she was in a private room giving a soap massage to a Korean tour bus tourist, when Bangkok police demanded entry, she answered the locked door wearing a large towel. There could be no charge of prostitution if she was not caught in the act, is giving a soap massage illegal in Thailand?

She was hiding her face, to avoid her debtors seeing her place of work.

Working in her establishment is not as lucrative as working in bars or go-go bars. Clients are usually Korean and Chinese male tourists on bus tours who rarely tip.

So it seems to be that a 1000 baht 'fine' (where does it go?) for 'working' in such a place is not justice.

Thank you and goodnight.

I feel very angry about this:

This morning my favourite girl from 'Heaven' called me explaining that she had been held overnight by police and needed 1000 baht to be released.

Her crime; she was a victim of the above said raid by police. She is a Thai citizen with an I.D. card trying to earn a living in a Thai Massage Centre.

I understand if the raid was to expel illegal Burmese or Uzbec ladies, but why imprison Thai's and extort 1000 baht which is about $25?

Since when was massage with 'extras' illegal in Thailand? Plus on ITV then Channel 3 the raid was shown with ladies hiding their faces with handbags.

Pathetic,

Comments appreciated........

Thanks for help so far: Here is an update;

I restarted in safe mode and then went to system tools and restored from a month earlier, when no problems. However, no change, the system is dead.

For example if I double click an icon no response and program is not responding, end now. Basically no windows stuff works, when I open a menu it all locks up.

It is a 2.8 MHz with 256 RAM and 40G Hard (which has 30 available)

Are there any more DIY fixes I can do from the F8 menu?

Thanks again.

Thanks for advice, more specifically: I have a boot disc for XP on 3 inch floppy (A) so how can this help me restore my XP machine?

I don't have an XP CD disc, it was preloaded in the UK.

Thanks in advance..........

I have Windows XP home edition, when I boot up my PC it goes through the motions, icons appear but all is dead. It is frozen solid, if I press start, the pop up menus open, then lock, can't shut down: have to pull the power. I have tried everything I know a hundred times over.

Any ideas what I should do? I have heard that Windows XP has a system restore or repair where it mends itself?

Also I have a 3 inch floppy boot disc for this computer I made two years ago. But I don't even know what to do with this. I pressed F8 on start up and booted from this floppy in the A but it does something then asks me to type something.What?

Any help appreciated. This is a major headache, as I guess you can all imagine.

The problem probably Syd is that some of us who are a bit long in the tooth have heard all these reasons before why Thai ladies seem to lose so much money especially when the boyfriend is back in his home country.

It does seem strange however that usually for people to fall under hypnosis then three things have to be in place.

1 Intense concentration by the subject

2 Extreme relaxation by the subject.

3 High Suggestibility by the hypnotist.

Now to get all three of these well known `ingredients` to happen in busy Soi Bua Khow whilst the lady is in an eating house during a quick break from her intensive studies would seem to stretch the imagination somewhat even for the naive and gullable don`t you think?

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May I respond to Pattaya Fox;

Yes, I agree all Thai ladies like extra cash and will come up with ingenious ways of getting (it).

However, my point is this: a story of mysterious street hypnotism is unlikely to wash, with a Norweigian nor a Scot. As I said, she could invent a more likely tale, a snatched handbag for example.

With regards hypnotism:

1. There is no 'intense concentration needed by the subject': simple conversation will do.

2. 'Extreme relaxation' is not needed: just a relaxed mind and unsuspicion of nefarious activity.

3. 'High suggestibility': I agree, the very essence of hypnotism is to alter suddenly, a normal conversation into the common ground and then link to the surreal, so shutting down one half of the brain, and inducing a 'sleep' like state.

As I said before, hypnotism is difficult to believe in, yet we are all hypnotised to a certain degree, during our waking hours.

The human brain is more complex than we know. If you were hypnotised by a professional, you would not know it.

A sad story this one...100% true..

The girl in the next block has a Norwegian boyfriend, who is back home now, but keeps her well supplied with gold and cash, she is even learning English at school.

Last week on a food break in a cafe, while dining alone, a woman approached her speaking Isaan asking for directions, she sat down next to her and asked various questions and gained her confidence.

The next thing the girl remembers is coming-too, some minutes later, 15-20 minutes and her gold, handbag etc. were missing containing mobile phone, ATM card etc.

She was very disorientated but it got worse when the bank told her that 20,000 baht her daily limit had also been withdrawn, she must have revealed her PIN number to the female robber.

I am certain that this is hypnotism, farangs are safe from it, as fluency in language is needed, but I have warned my TGF about talking to friendly strangers and to be aware of this type of crime, which is very much unreported.

FYI :The language school was on Soi Bukhaew and the eatery nearby.

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Would just like to say that out of all the crap I've read on thaivisa.com this is right up there with the worst of it. Syd Barrett, if you really do believe in what you have posted, or anyone else for the matter, I can help you locate the whereabouts of a nearby mental home (assuming you do not already belong to one).

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You are all entitled to your opinions. I don't need a mental home yet; thank you, I am just informing you all of something that actually happened.

1. Some posters suggest that it is a scam or excuse to get more money out of her boyfriend. I agree many ways to extract extra funds are used by Thai ladies. However this highly unbelievable story is a very poor excuse. Thai ladies are not dumb, she could have said a burglary or motorcycle snatch etc. anything is better than suggesting that you were hypnotised!

2. The drug theory. I would prefer this theory as well, however there are no fast acting drugs on the CNS that are edible and effective in 5-10 minutes. The only suggestion might be chloroform or ether administered by smothering the respiritory tract. That would remain in the memory after the event.

3. I also suggest that many of you doubting poster's actually don't BELIEVE in hypnotism. It is proven fact that humans, (some are more susceptible than others):can easily be hypnotised.

4. I agree many Thai ladies carry their ATM with the PIN. And that the victim was wearing the gold 'like a Christmas tree'. However she was robbed of possessions without any memory of the event.

5. This original post was meant as a warning to all those who have Thai partners, who should be warned of such dangers of street hypnotism in Pattaya. To all of you (90%) who 'pooh pooh' my post; let us hope that the egg does not land on your face, when your uninformed lady hands over her valuables and perhaps your home keys to one of these street robbers (in kind).

Thank you and goodnight.

It is easy to be cynical: loss of gold/cash, followed by a request for more from the altruistic benefactor: ie. farang, but Thai women rarely lie to each other regarding such an unusual robbery.

From what I hear the victim is genuinely upset and disturbed by the incident, fearing for her own sanity, it is after all a kind of 'psychic rape'; when you are mesmerised by a master of the art of hypnotism.

I believe it happened. It must be difficult to explain this crime to Thai police,whom I suspect would offer little understanding, comfort or concern.

I wonder if it comes up on the Pattaya news channel?

A sad story this one...100% true..

The girl in the next block has a Norwegian boyfriend, who is back home now, but keeps her well supplied with gold and cash, she is even learning English at school.

Last week on a food break in a cafe, while dining alone, a woman approached her speaking Isaan asking for directions, she sat down next to her and asked various questions and gained her confidence.

The next thing the girl remembers is coming-too, some minutes later, 15-20 minutes and her gold, handbag etc. were missing containing mobile phone, ATM card etc.

She was very disorientated but it got worse when the bank told her that 20,000 baht her daily limit had also been withdrawn, she must have revealed her PIN number to the female robber.

I am certain that this is hypnotism, farangs are safe from it, as fluency in language is needed, but I have warned my TGF about talking to friendly strangers and to be aware of this type of crime, which is very much unreported.

FYI :The language school was on Soi Bukhaew and the eatery nearby.

Buy a One to call SIM card (about 300 baht) then keep loading it with top up cards of 300 or 500 baht value, you will soon get a 6 month 'cushion' It might seem difficult to accept, but if you load up a 1-2 Call card you won't lose in the long run, because they still give you another 4 weeks till they disconnect you. So 7 months is enough for most visitors who visit Thailand twice a year.

Don't lose a number just because you don't top up enough. I lost a fantastic number once beginning 06666**** so from the U.K. it was 666666****a sad day for me I missed it by four days. Now my number is so difficult to remember I have to check every time.

My girlfriend has a 'cushion' of over 19 months........God knows how many top-up cards she uses......?

When calling Italy (Country Code 39) you don't drop the 0....that's a real killer if you don't know it!

As I said yesterday in this column, he (the deceased) was in no way related to the incidents of July 21st and had no bag or rucksack. He was just an Asian man (not Pakistani) who jumped over a turnstile like young men do at Stockwell tube station and chased by plain-clothed men, who shouted; 'get him', 'get down' and 'stop'.

He had every right to be afraid, the 'fight or flight' reflex is automatic, maybe this guy had a few Brixton drug gang enemies?

Now he is dead, and the backlash will be bad. The police enquiry will take ages and the policeman (executioner) will be found not guilty. If the police are truthful and admit a huge mistake, all well and good, but I just hope there isn't a cover-up.