Daewoo

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). <snip>and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Did anyone else notice this??? To me that reads as 64KG total.

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). The total of the three dimensions not to exceed 158 cm (62 inches) per bag provided that the overall dimensions of the two pieces shall not exceed 273 cm (107 inches) and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Maximum Cabin Baggage Allowance

Economy Class -

1 BAG 22 X 15 X 8INS -55 X 38 X 20CMS

- weight not to exceed 7kgs -15lbs

Weight not to exceed 15lbs/7kgs. Plus duty free purchases of liqueur, cigarettes and perfume in reasonable quantities.

My record was flying home to Aust from Malaysia with MAS at the height of SARS.

The 747 had 98 passengers so the staff had obviously been told to try and find revenue anywhere they could. The guy I was flying with and I both had $Au1000 (27,000 Baht) excess bagage bills. Luckily it was flying for work, so out came the Amex....

Cheers,

Daewoo

I was surprised by the mention that Palestinians were somber about the event - I thought they were dancing in their rubble-strewn streets, shooting guns off in glee - upon hearing the news

If you are thinking of the same footage I am, it was later shown that this footage, aired on CNN, and shown in Australia on all the news channels was 'stock' footage from many years before the attack...

I was sitting at home in Sydney, where it was late at night watching TV at the opposite end of the house and avoiding my family... I saw it on the news and when to sit with my father and watched the news until the early hours of the morning... worrying what this meant for the world...

of course at the time no -one knew that the towers would collapse with so many people still inside, so we were all full of hope for the least human toll...

I can remember going to work the next day... half the people were bleary eyed like me from watching TV half the night, and others didn't know anything about it until they had woken that morning...

We spent most of the morning talking about those terrible events, but also US and Australia's past foreign policy and how that was interweaved with what had happened...

Two years later, most of Australia was still fearful and distrustful of Arabs and Muslims, exacerbated by a series of gang rapes carried out on 'Australian' girls by Muslim Lebanese b_stards when I went to work in Malaysia. The next day the second gulf war started...

My hotel was beside the US embassy, and on my first trip to work the taxi driver was screaming at the embassy as we drove past and saying how he wished he had a bomb so he could drive into the embassy and blow it up, and leaving me wondering what I had gotten myself into.

Over the time I worked in Malaysia I realised that Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and Atheist were actually mostly the same in their view on the war and the state of the planet... we all just wished it wasn't like this...

To all of my fellow humans on Thai Visa, from all over the world I say this, we are much more alike than we are different.

Cheers,

Daewoo

I realise that I don't know the full story from this woman - only parts.

I doubt anybody ever knows the full story of anything told by a Thai woman

My opinion is, if he knows about the child, and has chosen not to be involved, it isn't up to you to force his hand. To my mind, the best you can do is continue to look after her as best you can, and hope that as he grows up he will feel the need to become involved.

I don't think that him giving her money should really be an issue. I give Thai friends money from time to time.

If it was me, I wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about the child, and that would be the same if the mother was the most popular bargirl in Thailand, but that might be because I have two sons, and love being their dad.

Good on you for caring enough to care.

Cheers,

Daewoo

Hello all,

I am coming to BKK this week and would like to sample the local nightlife.

I would prefer to avoid tourist oriented bars. I would also like to avoid bars with too many PROS.

Can you recomend any busy/good BKK bars that cater to mostly local Thais?

Cheers.

Using my online translator I have translated this on your behalf.

Hello all,

I am coming to BKK this week and would like to try and pick up some local girls.

I would prefer to pick up girls who haven't been spoiled by westerners before, and don't want to ask the awkward question about if they are in this for the money.

Can you recommend any busy/good pickup joints?

Cheers.

How did I go???

Good luck and happy hunting, just remember to be a gentleman.

Cheers,

Daewoo

I think there are two or three different threads in here that need to be addressed.

Legal -

I would assume that UK law is similar to Australian law, where obligations are placed on the biological father regardless of circumstance. In fact, there are cases where DNA has proved that he isn't the biological father yet has still had to pay support after a break-up because the court has deemed fatherhood to be more than biological. Not sure if a 'non-citizen' of the country can file in the court of the fathers home country, but if they can he wouldn't have a way out.

My understanding is that Thai law is similar but is less frequently tested, and are far less biased towards the mother.

Moral -

This is completely up to the father and not really for anyone else to decide. I would hate to think that there is a child out there fathered by me who didn't know me. If this happened to me, I would definitely want to be involved with the child and want to make sure that the child was well looked after, but that is just me. The FATHER should be allowed to decide for himself what involvement he has. It doesn't appear he was a party to the decision to go forward with the birth (or to terminate) so he should be allowed to choose what he does afterwards.

The OP -

It is unclear if the OPs intention is to seek revenge on behalf of the girl, or to see that the child is looked after. I feel that knowing much of Thai society's attitude to sex it is unfair to pursue a 'good girl' unless you have some sort of honourable intention (i.e shouldn't take advantage of her). If she is more modern/western in her attitudes, then she is partially/equally responsible. I don't think that it is unreasonable for the OP t try and find the guy, but he should be discreet and only do it if that is what the mother wishes.

If the mother really is a friend, why not step up and become uncle tommurphy??? (as it would seem you already have) You might find it to be very rewarding (or heartbreaking).

Cheers,

Daewoo

I tend to be able to go through about 10,000 Baht a day in BKK, and about half that in other tourist places. That is probably because in BKK I tend to start drinking at midday, and in tourist places I am being a tourist until late afternoon.

If I am in a 'Thai only' area where foreigners don't go much, I have a hard time getting through 1,000 Baht a day...

you will quickly learn an ancient Thai phrase "up to you"...

Cheers,

Daewoo

Drugs and prostitution seem to be intimate friends the world over, no news here.

I can't believe that so many posters were willing to come on here and say that this story is BS...

This thing is relatively common, although usually the story is the mark getting drugged back in their room by a working girl... I know personally 3 guys who have been drugged in different beer bars...

There is a case in Australia of a guy charged with doing this 61 TIMES!!!... Story Here... 61 times and the victims didn't know what had happened to them...

That is how some of the drugs work, the victim becomes unable to think for themself, and can't remember what they did the next day... and the drugs break down quickly so they are not delectable soon afterwards...

Sure with 20/20 hindsight we can see the guy was being set up, but I have made friends with people I have met on the street and shared a meal/drink with them... that is the point of travel, and better than experiencing nothing out of fear...

The people who posted here saying the story is BS, or that it couldn't happen to them, be careful because YOU are the next potential victims, I hope your friends are more supportive of you... remember that the people doing it are professionals, that is how they make their living, they are good at it...

To the OP, thank you for posting, hopefully some more people will now be aware of what to watch out for...

Cheers,

Daewoo

watch out for drop bears as well. Very dangerous.

And Bundy Bears... always ends in trouble...

As mcgriffith said, get yourself over to www.gt-rider.com

It is the best site for motorcycling related questions for the North... but you are expected to put something back in with trip reports and such if you join the forum ( www.board.gt-rider.com )... it is a great site and community...

I bought on Index helmet in Chiang Mai for 800 baht and bought it back to Aus with me (as checked luggage). I wouldn't go as far as to say it is a Shoei equivalent, but it does the job.

In fact despite it being totally illegal because it isn't approved for Australia, I use it regularly here to save my 'real' bike helmet from being knocked around.

Cheers,

Daewoo

The other plausible excuse for the American error is that Yanks need to have their right hand free for some other purpose whilst driving although I can't possibly imagine what that might be.

Holding their 4 gallon cup of 'soda'????

Oh well, the Kangaroos are worth the hassle, especially if you get to use a big gun to shoot them

Skippy would have been shocked to hear you say that.

Not sure if it is true, but it is said that Australia is the only country to shoot our national emblem.

Thai's may put Elephants to work, but shooting them is a big no no...

May be because 'Roo meat tastes much better than an Elephant drumstick...

Cheers,

Daewoo

I noticed a mistake in Daewoo's entry:

It would seem that Peter is correct, I saw that you could apply online on the dimmia website and didn't look into it further.

Oh well, the Kangaroos are worth the hassle, especially if you get to use a big gun to shoot them

Cheers,

Daewoo

We're taking our kids to Australia for a holiday. My eldest has a British and a UK passport, my youngest none yet. Which passport would be best to get a visa - the thai or the British, or doesn't it matter. My wife's, who's Thai has been before. I'm British.

On a British Passport, you can apply for the ETA Visa http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/976/index.htm which costs $Au20

On a Thai Passport you have to apply for the Tourist Visa http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/676/index.htm which costs $Au75 and is probably a bit more hassle.

You can apply for both online.

Cheers,

Daewoo

Thailand is the perfect place for both Europeans/Americans and Anglophiles to drive in harmony, since it is perfectly acceptable to drive on whichever side of the road you are most comfortable.

Q: Do they drive on the left or the right hand side of the road in Thailand?

A: Yes.

I would suggest getting out of Bangkok very early in the morning as the traffic is no where near as bad once you are 'out of town'

Cheers,

Daewoo

front facing is fine as long as passenger air bag is disabled

Front facing is acceptable (without airbag) if there are no other options. I would suggest that there is likely to be seatbelt holes under the seats as most other countries would require them. Buy a seatbelt, fit it, and the seat is in the safest location.

Cheers,

Daewoo

If you don't get a baby seat, make sure that if anyone holds the baby in the front seat, to do it strongly with two arms.

Neeranam, I know you are only trying to help, but it is never safe to carry a baby in any seat of any car.

No adult, no matter how strong, can hold onto a baby in a car crash. The sooner that ALL parents understand this, the sooner that good quality carriers will become available at reasonable prices, and the sooner more

babies will live into adulthood.

Cheers,

Daewoo

OK - from first hand experience.

I was the poster child for ADHD. Diagnosed nearly 30 years ago when it wasn't a catch all for bad behaviour. I underwent intensive study at the Sydney Children's Hospital before any treatment began and was prescribed Ritalin (remember this was 30 years ago, the prescription and all repeats had to be authorised by the Minister for Health). In addition to the medication, I underwent behavioural therapy (at what is now called Learning Links), and my mother took the bull by the horns and was very strict following the dietary advice.

Through proper diet, NO PRESERVATIVES, NO ARTIFICIAL COLOURS, NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS, brushing teeth with baking soda instead of toothpaste, rinsing detergent from any dishes, the whole lot I was off medication within 12 months.

I was never badly behaved, just full of energy. By focusing that energy I think I have achieved good things in life. 2 Masters Degrees, good family life, good personal achievements. I don't think I would have done half of that if medicated.

Then again, my parents would never have stood for bad behaviour, so it was either tow their line, or a kick in the behind...

Medication should be a last resort, or a means to an end, not seen as a solution IMHO.

Cheers,

Daewoo

My 0.646047 THB worth...

The first thing most Aussies think of when you mention Thailand is cheap sex and ladyboys. It does an enormous amount of damage to the ability of Thailand to generate tourism from here. This is despite the fact that sex is probably cheaper in most other countries of Asia, the workers more likely to be underage and enslaved in other Asian countries, and the typical clientele no worse than other countries.

Most potential tourists don't look into the facts, they see Thailand portrayed that way in the Media, and choose to spend their money elsewhere.

Those that do make it to the LoS then have to deal with low levels of English language skills. This results in the tourist feeling uncomfortable and exposed doing simple things like making the trip from the airport to the hotel, or taking themself to some of the tourist spots. If the only person who speaks English, and who approaches you to offer assistance at the airport is part of the taxi mafia who rips you off, you will have a very negative experience and tell everyone 'back home'. Better education and especially better English would greatly improve the experience for the tourist.

Just to qualify my statement above, most Europeans speak English to varying degrees, and focusing on English is much better than trying to have Thais learn many different languages. Japanese and Koreans have a different attitude to travel than Europeans, typically enjoying being part of a group of their own countrymen, so learning those languages, whilst an advantage, is less important.

To my mind the biggest hurdle to Thai Tourism is the Thai personality, being quite reserved with strangers. I believe that most travellers like to interact with the people of the country they are travelling to. I don't know if it the language barrier, but it is much more difficult to engage with a Thai than in most any other country I have visited.

I don't think that TAT do a bad job promoting the country internationally, I just think that they try to spread themself too thin, and don't have focus.

Things will be different when I control the world...

Cheers,

Daewoo

sounds to me like she needs a car of her own..

And lessons...

Stupid falang need guidance, PLEASE. Before I pull all my hair out can anyone guide me how to download stuff for free. I was informed when I bought this laptop vista it would be easy to do, ha ha. I have a land line ????? Many thanks.

I am not much on the nerdbox, but am a bit bored at work, so I will kick things off, and hopefully others will pick up on my errors and help you...

Your original post doesn't really help explain too much what you have and what you would like to do...

1st, you need an Internet Connection... You said you have a landline, but do you mean you have a dial-up internet connection (very slow) or broadband over you phone line (much better)... either way you need to connect to the Internet first.

The most popular P2P format for movies at the moment is BitTorrent.

2nd, you need to download a 'BitTorrent Client" like BitCommet or Azureus, I find BitCommet easiest. The Torrent Client is the program that manages the download for you, but isn't like a big database of movies... it just manages the download of torrents that you find somewhere else...

When someone creates a torrent they split the movie up into heaps of tiny little packets and list the torrent on a search engine... people (or peers) who download the whole torrent and leave the whole thing there for others to upload are called seeders... people (or peers), who have some of the packets but not all are called leechers... BitTorrent works by getting little packets of the movie from all of the other peers and letting other peers get some of what you have downloaded already.

The number of peers (seeders and leechers) who have part of the movie is what decides the health of the torrent, and how fast you will be able to upload it...

3rd, The search engines to find the torrent are just web based like google... some of the main ones are torrentspy, mininova, meganova, btjunkie, Isohunt and torrent portal. You just open them in your web browser (such as Internet Explorer) type in the movie that you want, and click search... look at the movie with the best 'health' and check the comments to see if it is what you want, whether the quality is good, what language it is in, that sort of thing... if you like it, click ion the "download this torrent" button...

This will download a little program that tells you what files are in the torrent, and asks you where on your computer you want the movie stored... when you are happy, click OK and it will tell your BitTorrent Client to start the download...

4th, most movies are compressed using programs called Codecs, such as Divx, or Xvid... to play these on a DVD player you need one that has these codecs (it will be on the box or front of the player)... to replay them on your computer, you can just download the codec for free from the Internet. Using Codecs allow them to convert a 4Gb movie to as small as 600Mb without loosing ]too much quality...

It might sound a bit daunting, but it is actually pretty easy once you do the first 1 or two... there is heaps of info on the Internet to help, just search for BitTorrent.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Daewoo

40k is a very very high salary in Khon Khaen and generally from my experience Thai's don't just jump ship for a little more salary - If you are worried about boredom you could always make it more exciting by offering the chances of for example a trip to Australia etc..

Your idea sounds good, but it would rely upon finding some very skilled English Language Thais, which is difficult - however if you are offering 40k baht a month you might be able to find people.

Thanks Ben.

The relative buying power of the salary is one of the things which led me to start thinking about locating outside BKK.

I live in Sydney which is one of the most expensive cities in the world... if it wasn't for family I would jump at the chance to earn the same money in a less expensive, more relaxed city.

Any other suggestions of where I would find reasonably skilled, reasonably good English outside of BKK??? Maybe I need to think more towards tourist areas like Chiang Mai or Phuket, but then you are competing against jobs with tourist $$$. Like I said, the only reason I was thinking of Kon Kaen is because my old University has a relationship with the University there, so I assume there must be some skilled people around.

Part of the plan would see some employees working in Australia, earning $Au42K/PA would still leave them banking the equivalent of their entire Thai paycheck each month.

Thanks for your help,

Cheers,

Daewoo

(And this coming from the Australian government that's participating in the most extreme form of violence in Iraq.)

And then the Australian Family Association commented that this was a bad policy, because it would make parents who are doing a perfectly fine job of bringing up their child think that they are failing.

For me, the important thing isn't whether or not you smack the child, but whether they know what they did wrong, that you were fair, and that they are sorry for diong the wrong thing, not for being disciplined.

Cheers,

Daewoo

Song kon luukchai 2 1/2 years and 6 months... narak mak...

Prakanong,

Thanks for your input.

When the company I worked for operated in Thailand we had more women than men for similar reason to those that you outlined, i.e. generally better English skills, more stable employees, more open to Western management styles.

I agree with your comments about flexible hours, within reason. Of course the difficulty arises that Thailand is already 3 hours behind Eastern Australia, workers generally start about 8am here, and Thais closer to 10. That means that there is only about 3 hours a day where the staff would be able to communicate directly.

I was targeting a salary of around the 40K mark or higher. In Australia the work is done by semi-skilled staff, without any tertiary qualifications, at a salary of around 110K THB. My concern is that educated Thai's (BA) will quickly grow bored of the work, and less educated Thais will generally not have sufficient written English skills. This is why I started thinking that the work might be more attractive to someone in a major regional centre than in BKK, but I believe that this might increase the English skills issue.

The reason that I thought of Kon Kaen is that it has an affiliation with my Alumni (UTS), and seems to be a major education hub for that area.

Is Internet connections at about broadband speeds (1028K) available and reliable in major regional centres like Kon Kaen?

Again, thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Daewoo

I run a small business in Australia doing basic design work for Telecommunications Companies.

The work is mostly quite basic data entry work within the Telco Databases, and could be done from the moon if they have a reliable Internet connection.

I am looking to expand the business and set up an office in Thailand, the work still being done for Telco's in Australia.

I am wondering if the cost of living for staff would make the business more successful if it was located in a major regional centre like Kon Kaen rather than in BKK. The decider would be access to about 20 good English speaking staff, (or more precisely good written English) and reliable Internet.

The work is very difficult to teach, and relies mostly on experience, so therefore staff retention is key. I hope to be able to pay above average wages, but know that the Thai's will still go somewhere else for an extra $1/week. I hoped that access to good employment in their home town might make staff retention less of a problem.

Any advice or thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Daewoo