ukrules

I've used my Kasikorn debit card in various places like the UK and US over the internet.

It's just the ATM card that comes with a regular savings account, you need to specifically enable internet transactions with it or it won't work.

I believe airlines might have different rules and I've heard some people having issues with this type of card and some airlines in the past.

I've never used mine to book a flight, I use my 'real' bank cards for that kind of thing.

Not providing your friend with a triple entry visa doesn't necessarily mean that LA Thai Consulate doesn't issue triple entry to others.

In this case it does, it was nothing to do with him personally. They told him they don't issue triple entry tourist visas, the only option now is the double entry.

Maybe this will all change in November anyway. I wonder if the consulates will be able to issue the new 6 month visa.

There is a program called dtsearch which will index the files on your computer and let you search it.

It's not free but I believe there is a free trial, once that's up it's $200 for a license. Google 'dtsearch' if you're interested.

It works with DOC, PDF and a whole load of other file formats. This is a professional tool, hence the price.

What is a 'check in' ? Are you talking about the 90 day reports ?

A friend of mine recently returned from the US where he normally picks up a triple entry visa at the Los Angeles consulate.

This might have been reported elsewhere as I'm sure it's a busy consulate due to its location and I have no idea when this change was made.

He couldn't get a triple entry tourist visa there, they would only offer him a double entry visa.

I guess the new 6 month visa will kind of replace the need for the triple entry visa but the triple entry visa is already not available.

I wonder if these anti Assad rebels are also fighting ISIS, I have a feeling the anti Assad rebels and ISIS have a common goal, to remove Assad.

If they were to achieve this, what happens next is anyones guess but I have a feeling it won't be good for anyone, apart from perhaps ISIS.

They fixed a similar issue last week, maybe they <deleted> it up again

MSG only kills braincells by exciting the neurons till that ...

once you pop you can't stop, sounds familiar ... well, the tasty chips with MSG, tells your brain it is so delicious, that you have to get one, and another one and another ...

I was once offered some pringles, I ate a couple, they were quite tasty. I didn't proceed to ram the whole carton down my throat in some kind of uncontrolled eating binge, I just ate a few of them. Believe it or not this is considered normal behaviour.

I'm a fan of the artificial sweeteners, I think my favourite of them all is aspartame as used in Equal.

This is a country where you can't buy a non sugar artificially sweetened version of Indian Tonic Water, it's an outrage !

I heard the sodastream company make a concentrate for the tonic water but I haven't tried it yet because I've never seen it on sale over here. I'll have someone bring me a bottle over when they come. I guess I can just mix it into the regular bottles of soda water and hope for a reasonable result.

For now though it's the full sugar version when I want a G&T as that's all they sell.

Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include:

Eye

blindness in one or both eyes

decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision

pain in one or both eyes

decreased tears

trouble with contact lenses

bulging eyes

Ear

tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound

severe intolerance of noise

marked hearing impairment

Neurologic

epileptic seizures

headaches, migraines and (some severe)

dizziness, unsteadiness, both

confusion, memory loss, both

severe drowsiness and sleepiness

paresthesia or numbness of the limbs

severe slurring of speech

severe hyperactivity and restless legs

atypical facial pain

severe tremors

Psychological/Psychiatric

severe depression

irritability

aggression

anxiety

personality changes

insomnia

phobias

Chest

palpitations, tachycardia

shortness of breath

recent high blood pressure

Gastrointestinal

nausea

diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools

abdominal pain

pain when swallowing

Skin and Allergies

itching without a rash

lip and mouth reactions

hives

aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma

Endocrine and Metabolic

loss of control of diabetes

menstrual changes

marked thinning or loss of hair

marked weight loss

gradual weight gain

aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

Yes, some tiny fraction of people are affected by some even smaller subset of the above reactions. I know for sure I'm not one of them and I've been using this stuff for many years so why should I care ?

If it doesn't work for you, avoid it.

There's always someone who's allergic to something - check this out : Have you heard about ibuprofen and it's most serious adverse reaction - the one where all your skin comes off, you go to a burn unit and they treat you, maybe you survive, maybe you don't.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/teenage-girl-wins-109-million-payout-after-ibuprofen-leaves-her-brain-damaged-blind-and-causes-90-8494775.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/30/calvin-lock-boy-11-shed-skin-allergy-ibuprofen_n_2042884.html

What's described above is a real and serious reaction, it used to be known as an allergy before that word was hijacked by the 'food fad' industry. It's known as SJS (Stevens Johnson Syndrome) and it's later stages Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. People die from this.

I'm a fan of the artificial sweeteners, I think my favourite of them all is aspartame as used in Equal.

This is a country where you can't buy a non sugar artificially sweetened version of Indian Tonic Water, it's an outrage !

I heard the sodastream company make a concentrate for the tonic water but I haven't tried it yet because I've never seen it on sale over here. I'll have someone bring me a bottle over when they come. I guess I can just mix it into the regular bottles of soda water and hope for a reasonable result.

For now though it's the full sugar version when I want a G&T as that's all they sell.

What country is this guy from ? If he has any kind of history / convictions then you can force people to act.

Finding out this information might be easy or very hard depending on where he's from.

I've used another Thai Bitcoin site, I've bought and sold hundreds of thousands of Bahts worth of coins there, never any problems.

This one https://bx.in.th - I think it might be operated by the same company but I don't know. You can pay money in using the ATM and withdraw it using direct bank transfer.

It's handy for payments up to a few hundred thousand Baht depending on the orderbooks which can be a bit slim at times.

I generally avoid fish sauce because it's rotten fermented fish which isn't something I like to consume

Well I live in Hua Hin and I find it adequate for my needs. It's near to the sea and I've heard there are some decent beaches south of central Hua Hin.

What, exactly, are you talking about?

Sorry, 34(3) defines tourism and 35(2) the related limit per entry.

2. Not exceeding 90 days for a case under Section 34 (3)

This is the part that in my opinion needs changing.

Obviously I'm not talking about people who are doing visa runs and living here,

I'm talking about people who come for part of the winter.

Winter being only 3 months long*, these people have no problem to stay with existing visa

* "Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter

The standard 60 days doesn't quite cover it and I'm really referring to people who come to Thailand when it's cold at home be it Autumn, Winter or Spring - in some places it's cold in all three of those.

Here in Hua Hin I've noticed people have already started arriving for the 'winter' from some Scandinavian countries.

They're reporting 'as fact' this confession by the guy who apparently placed the bomb in the Erawan Shrine in some of the Thai language news sources right now.

It said the Thais are going to extradite him.

When they do this does anyone know if there are significant results ?

This is a pathetic waste of time.

They could have prosecuted tens of thousands of people for who worked in the supporting services that kept the concentration camps working with charges like this decades ago when they were all still alive but chose not to.

It sounds to me like they've ran out of actual real targets and are now going after the low hanging fruit.

I guess they will be rounding up clerks, janitors, cleaners, cooks and other office staff for years to come.

Lots of people stay in Thailand for only 60 days. They won't go to immigration 'for an extension' and they won't ever do a visa run - they just go home before the 60 days are up. They book their flights and accomodation well in advance based on the 60 days which are allowed.

Immigration should wake up to this fact and allow people to enter for 90 to 120 days at a time, I'm sure they would see an increase in the number of tourists staying longer instead of just going home at the end of their 60 days.

Obviously I'm not talking about people who are doing visa runs and living here, I'm talking about people who come for part of the winter.

I know people who will never go to immigration to get extensions and do visa runs, they just go home before the stamp runs out. It's all booked up before they come, they read about the maximum 60 day stay and they stay for 60 days or less. If they read 90 or 120 days then I'm pretty sure a percentage of them would stay for longer. Of course I don't know what this percentage is but it could be significant. Even a few percent of longer winter stayers could have a trickle down affect across the entire tourist industry.

It's no coincidence that my mother who's coming again this winter is staying for about 58 days this time. She's booked the flight and accomodation already and is sticking to the published limit.

Well it's still not working here, that's just over 12 hours now.

The old ICQ running on the 'Pidgin' instant messenger software seems to be holding up quite well though.

I'm reading reports of a worldwide outage.

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/workspace/uk-suffers-major-skype-outage-177205

Yes, I can't login to Skype at all at the moment. I'm using 3BB if that makes any difference.

Lol, I do spend a lot of time on the internet, then again I sometimes I watch a lot of tv as well.

These are things I've always done. Overall I'd say my lifestyle here is pretty much identical to the one I had back in the UK, all that's changed are the surroundings and temperature, and of course the people - these expats are everywhere.

In general aspirin does nto require a prescrioption in Thailand. However for some bizarre reason there is one brand that does: B-Apirin 81. Although not made by Bayer (Bayer aspirin in Thailand comes only in 500 mg) this is probably what the store thought OP meant.

81 mg brands available without prescription are:

Asatab (enteric coated)

Aspent M (enteric coated)

Aspilets (lchewable so not coated)

I was looking for and asked for 500mg Bayer Aspirin, not the much lower dosage version which lots of people take on a daily basis.

I could see it on the shelf behind the counter as it's in a distinctive green and white box. I told her it was for occasional headaches and I only wanted to buy 1 or 2 'strips' of 10 tablets.

Maybe she was an assistant pharmacist instead of the pharmacist in charge, I have no idea really.