jfchandler

There was another thread on this lately, and no one knew any updated info.

I have friends who work for BTS, and they've heard nothing about the timing of any openings.

Still nothing coming to me.. now 2 am Friday morning.. Good Night!

Hmmm.... maybe a condom would have made for a less injurious stay....

Plus, you didn't have to go to Cebu to catch that... You could have done it right here in LOS just as easily!

I've been posting at various times through the day today, and had replies in some of my subscribed threads. But not a single notification has arrived, as yet, into my Hotmail inbox (or junk mail or anywhere else).

Beg to differ... In terms of skin coverings, there's a Thai non-DEET spray product available at local grocery stores. I buy mine at Foodland on Soi 5.

It comes in two "flavors" in similar bottles -- one with DEET and a different color bottle, and the other with a green color/clear plastic bottle labeled "pure green" in English that has no DEET and instead is 20% citronella grass oil.

I'm sure the DEET works great, but I too would rather avoid the chemical stuff as much as possible. And thus far, the citronella grass spray has worked just fine -- maybe not as strong or as long lasting as DEET, but well enough to keep me reasonably protected for evenings outside. After you get used to it, it kinda smells nice.

PS - was married with Japanese lady in the past, and have various allergies, but never heard of miso paste as an allergy and/or air pollution remedy.

In fact, just the opposite. Some of the more common allergies, and ones people often don't know they have, are food allergies. And allergy to soy products, including miso, is one of the more common ones. When I finally went for a full-spectrum range of allergy tests as a result, my skin reaction to soy products shot off the scale, much to my amazement and surprise.

So at least, before you go down the miso road, get a full range allergy test that includes food allergies. And make sure soy is not among them, if you haven't already done so. When I saw some of the best allergists in Los Angeles, none of them ever mentioned miso as an allergy or pollution remedy, FYI.

Rimping did have a few Japanese miso pastes, and a Thai one as well.

Sorry, but only deet works. Sorry.

Checking...

I'll confess, I have a preference for Thai girls who look like Thai girls, and an aversion for Thai girls who 1) try too hard to look like non-Thais, 2) who are excessively or badly tattoed, and 3) who have figures more resembling boys.

With that said, I'd say the following ladies (ranked by their number, not my preference) are real winners and much nicer/sexier than some of those previously cited in this thread.

#1 -- link here

#18 -- link here

#32 -- link here

#44 -- link here

#48 -- link here

#85 -- link here

Tried the buffet breakfast at Nana Hotel (Suk Soi 4) for the first time today... as a non-hotel guest. 200 baht, from 6 - 10 am, I believe.

Food and breakfast in general was OK: bacon, scrambled and fried eggs, pancakes, Thai fried noodles, fried potatoes, cut fruits, etc. But, all in all, I'd say it's not better than the nearby Fortuna Hotel buffet on Soi 5 that runs 140 baht.

Good points of Nana: very cold OJ, nice choice of croissants and some pastries, and they also serve some small sized, but nicely done American-style pancakes, which can be hard to find elsewhere. (Along with, a couple of fairly attractive female wait staff).

Bad points of Nana: the bacon for me was on the overly fatty side, the choice of Thai food items other than the noodles wasn't there, and overall choice of entrees was a bit more limited than you'd find at buffets elsewhere. In part, I'm also reacting to some prior posts/reviews of Nana's breakfast that were pretty glowing. So I had high expectations going in, and was a bit disappointed.

By comparison, apart from the significantly lower price, the Fortuna's buffet includes the basics (though not pancakes) but adds things like Indian-style curry, club finger sandwiches, a selection of Japanese foods, and more.

All in all, for me, Nana is perfectly adequate and a reasonable price compared to the bigger (and more expensive) hotels/breakfast buffets. But the Fortuna makes for a more satisfying breakfast, at a better price.

Manhattan is a much different level (lower in quality and price) than the Montien Riverside, and is the recipient of very mixed reviews from guests who have stayed there.

Around the same area of Sukhumvit, but much closer in quality and at lesser prices, would be choices like the Royal Benja (Suk Soi 5) and Tai Pan (near Asoke). They're both nice places, but you'd need to check with them about their status for Internet access.

Based on what you say, the ideal place for them to stay would be around the Siam Square area. That's the intersection of the two SkyTrain BTS lines (Sukhumvit and Silom) and close to Siam Paragon, Siam Square, Siam Discovery and MBK shopping areas.

There are a lot of hotels around that area, some more on the expensive side. On the nice but less expensive and quaint side, there's a well-recommended place called Reno Hotel on a small walking soi just a short distance from MBK... nice restaurant and swimming pool included.

There are also a lot of places around Sukhumvit, but they'll face varying degrees of "working ladies" being around, which based on your post they may want to avoid.

Reno Hotel Location : 40 Soi Kasamsun 1 Rama I Rd., Wangmai, Phathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Phone : 0 2215 0026-7 Website :

Email : [email protected]

Star : Price Rates : 890 - 1,280 Baht Number of Rooms : 58 Nearby Tourist Attractions :

Facilities :

Restaurant/CoffeeShop / NightClub/Karaoke / Cable TV / Swimming Pool / Internet / Laundry / BTS

hi everyone.

Ihave a friend coming to bkk he is about 50 with his western wife, they would like stay close to everything but i dont want to book anywhere that is not western couple friendly , a guest house would be ok middle of the range, some where they can walk around a bit of shopping and nightlife.

cheers and thanks

I'm 6-8 and 46 in. waist....

I've never found any pre-made long pants in stores here in BKK that are long enough to fit me (but never found them in the stores in the U.S. either).

Large and tall T-shirts can be found in various of the street stalls, and more permanently, the top clothing floor of MBK shopping center (National Stadium BTS stop) had some small stands at the far end, last time I checked, that had a fair selection of polo shirts and such in various big and tall sizes.

For other things, at present, I stock up on periodic trips back to the U.S., and also could consider ordering online from KingSize.com for CasualMale.com in the U.S., and then having the clothes shipped to my mail forwarding address in the U.S.

Basic clothes aren't that heavy, nor are those two online stores' prices so high, that it would trigger much in the way of shipping costs. But I don't believe either will ship directly abroad. They'll only ship within the U.S. And then you have to arrange for the U.S. to Thailand segment.

I've yet to hear of a "big and tall" shop anywhere in Bangkok or Thailand.

Here is the fee structure for SWIFT transfers, cut and paste from SCB's web site:

Inward Remittance - SWIFT, Telegraphic Transfer

The service is for foreign currency's inward remittance, remitted by telegraphic transfer or SWIFT.

Condition : SCB would require you to open an account with us. Service Highlight : The funds will be remitted to your account quickly and securely. Service Fee : 0.25 % of the remitted value, minimum fee is at 200 Baht, maximum is 500 Baht. Service Channel :

The rub is in the fees that are charged by the banking institutions at both ends, independent of the conversion rate.

I get free wire transfers to I know my net amount credited to my account at SCB is conversion rate + SCB transfer fee.

A knowledgeable friend told me banks in Thailand vary the amount of their fee depending on the amount of money transferred.

Monday of this week, February 11, my net deposit calculated out at a net conversion cost of 32.74. Depending on what time of day the actual conversion was made, assume 32.80, the difference is the bank transfer fee.

I calculated it to be about 1200 Baht Certainly no where near 300 Baht transfer fee spoken of by posters in the past.

Of course, the transfer fee could be 300 Baht and the difference between that and 1200 baht is the conversion rate the transaction went down as.

Yes I could call the bank and ask what there transfer fee is but it would matter not as the net I get into my account after a transfer is what concerns me and call the difference between the dollars wired and what goes into my account what you will, I call it cost of wire transfer.

Not enough to start shopping other banks to find a bank who charges less net.

I have sent wires from the U.S. to Thailand in the past (through Bank of America). In filling out the wire transfer documents, I always had to select whether I wanted the funds sent in U.S. dollars or local currency. I've also seen much discussion about this here on other TV posts in the past.

I do not think you get an option on what currency the money will be transferred in.

Most transfers are in a common currency and credited into the local value by the recieving bank.

Baht is not a common currency that I know of.

Freitag1, thanks for your comment.

I was already using Skype before I first found out about (and later bought and tried) Magic Jack, which was based on a very good review in the New York Times last November or so. If Magic Jack doesn't make it in the long run, I'm sure I'd go back to using Skype.

But there are a couple of noteworthy differences between the two at present, as follows:

1. All Magic Jack calls from Thailand to the U.S. and Canada are unlimited in time and free of charge. Skype has a modest per minute charge and connection charge, but does have free 800 series calls.

2. Magic Jack includes automatically your own self-selected area code and ensuing local U.S. phone number. Skype allows that thru its Skype In feature, but you're paying I believe $60 a year for that extra feature, which is apart from the additional per minute call charges you'll pay for your use.

3. Skype typically gets used with a headphone/mic set plugged into the computer, or some people go out and buy an IP phone to use with the service. In contrast, Magic Jack allows the use of any standard RJ-11 jack phone, which for me is a nice convenience.

4. I should also mention MJ also is offering a 30 day money back guarantee (minus shipping costs). So when I purchased it, I figured it I didn't like it or it didn't work well here, I'd simply return it at minimal cost. So far, however, I like it very much.

Uhm sounds a bit like Skype? You can't get the unlimited calls but everything else with it.

I wanted to clarify something mentioned above about a double-entry tourist visa.

The comment was...come for the initial 60 days, then extend that for the allowed 30, then leave the country (border run) to get another 60 days.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was the 60-day tourist visa (with or without the extension) allows for two entries during the validity of the visa -- which would be the total of 60 or 90 days (with extension) from the initial entry.

I didn't have the understanding that when someone holding one goes outside Thailand after their initial arrival, that they're then issued an additional 60 days of permission to stay.

I'm on a B visa, so I don't have personal experience with this. But it seems that's what I've consistently read here on TV.

Regarding True, you mentioned exploring a POST-pay account for Wifi and GPRS.

To the best of my knowledge, True will require you to show them a Work Permit as a foreigner, or a Thai ID card, in order to establish POST pay service (where they bill you monthly instead of buying top-up cards).

I switched from pre-pay to post-pay in the past, and I had to jump thru all kinds of hoops with True to get around that problem. DTAC has the same policy I believe. To get post-pay service with DTAC, they will require a work permit. DTAC has told me that both in their shops and thru their call center.

Regarding True and DTAC, that doesn't mean you can't get the Internet service you want. But, I believe, it means you'll have a difficult time as an exchange student getting it thru POST pay.

Thanks much for the suggestions...

Just fyi, I wasn't saying 40 to 70 baht because I can't or wouldn't pay more... just using that as a general/flexible target range. I meant more perhaps a place catering to Thai people and budgets vs. farang.

My general meaning was ... some places less expensive than the usual farang restuarant/pub prices that can be had everywhere.

I'm always on the lookout for a bargain, provided the food is good!

It seems there are two main kinds of everyday Thai food around Sukhumvit: 1) the street vendor stands or hole in the wall pre-prepared, food in the tray places at 20 or 30 baht per entree with little or nothing in the way of comfort, or 2) the inside, air con, fixed-to-order restaurants and pubs where Thai entres usually are in the 100 to 160 baht range.

What seems very hard to find, though, is a middle ground place along Sukhumvit: good Thai food fixed to order, reasonably comfortable to sit down inside and air con if possible, and per entree prices more in the 40 to 70 baht range.

I had a very nice small, middle-ground Thai restaurant shop on my soi that met all the criteria, except for air con. But now it's been closed to make way for another massage shop (do we really need any more????). So I'm on the hunt for a suitable place where two people can get away with a 200 baht bill or so for Thai food including water or soft drinks (your basic every day meal).

I know there's got to be others out there. But where?????????? Thanks much, in advance. --John.

I set up my online banking with BKKB at the same time I opened a local savings account with them (and obtained their debit card).

As I recall, to do everything, they just wanted to see my passport and evidence of a Thailand address. To establish online banking, I believe you would also need to have a Thai mobile number where you can receive SMS messages. As part of the set-up process, as best as I can recall, the bank sends an SMS to your designated Thai mobile number.

According to the bank's web site (they have a FAQs section that deals with farang issues), they require a valid BKK Bank savings or current account, a passport and a "work visa" to establish online banking. In another section, they were more detailed, saying bring work permit or Thai certificate of residence.

However, in my case, they didn't seem to care about work permit or not. My passport has a B (business) visa stamp, and they were fine with that, even without a work permit. I think they also wanted to see some proof of living here, but I didnt need to show a certificate of residence. I just showed my apartment lease.

To leapfrog on the OP's post , Are there any special requirements for getting Internet access? I have a BKK Bank savings account with Debit card...

Cheers!

Re your questions...

1. To make calls, the PC your Magic Jack is connected to must be on. When your PC is off, incoming calls will be picked up by Magic Jack's recorded voicemail, which you can retrieve next time you turn on your PC.

However, I too use a Linksys broadband router behind a True DSL modem. My laptop wireless connections remain on even when my PC is off, but router remains on. However, every time I start my direct connected RJ-45 desktop, I have to use the True dialer to reconnect.

So, it seems, I could plug the Magic Jack into one of my wireless notebooks and it would work even when the desktop is off. But when I turn the desktop off, the Magic Jack/phone attached to it gets no dialtone. I assume that is because the onboard software that's part of the device is not running under that situation.

2. They do say they require DSL, and don't recommend dial-up. I copied this below from their tech support section.

Will magicJack work on dialup internet service? No. Dial up internet service does not provide enough bandwidth for magicJack.

magicJack uses approximately 80 kbps of bandwidth (both upload and download), so you will need at least an ISDN or "Lite" broadband connection.

Note, magicJack-to-magicJack calls may work using Dial up internet service.

Jingthing, I know Vonage from back in the States, but I didn't know you could use it here in LOS... What's the deal about that??? As an aside, last time I checked a couple months ago, they were having financial problems and there was a lot of talk they might go under... Maybe their circs have gotten better since then... --John.

Does your computer have to be on? Does it require DSL? Can it be used on Dialup? I use Vonage attached to my DSL router,so of course as long as the router is on, the computer can be off. Much more expensive that your service but it has been good.

Same for me...worked fine for me from Los Angeles over the Christmas holidays.

And in fact, has worked fine for me here from Bangkok during the past six months. Never had any problem accessing or using BKKB's Bualuang Banking.

Only minor quibble... As I recall, to long-on you need to be using IE on a PC.... you can't log-on using Firefox.

Got a new tech toy by express mail from the U.S. lately, and just finished installing it and setting it up to my PC, so far with very good results.... It might be of some interest to the folks here.

The device is called Magic Jack, and it's received pretty good reviews from a variety of major media in the U.S. Basically, it's a $39.95 USB device about the size of a small MP3 player (smaller than a pack of cigarettes) that allows the user to plug any regular telephone into the unit and thereby into one's PC using the normal phone plug jacks.

The advantage for folks here in Thailand is the unit/service provides unlimited international calling TO the U.S. and Canada. The service also includes allowing the user to self-select their own U.S. local phone number (choose from most of the major area codes) that people anywhere can call to and then it rings on your computer/Magic Jack unit here and can be answered on the regular telephone you've plugged into the Magic Jack unit.

The $39.95 purchase price includes the unit itself and the first year of calling (free local and domestic long distance for users located inside the U.S. and Canada, and free calling to the U.S. and Canada from those located in other countries.) At present, purchasing a second year of those same calling features is priced at $19.95. When your PC is not turned on, calls made to your Magic Jack number will go to a functioning voicemail system and you'll get an e-mailed notice of the message.

I've installed it and been using it the past two weeks, and usually the call quality is comparable to what one gets with Skype, which is pretty good. Of course, it works best with a broadband connection. I've been using it with a 2 Mbps True DSL line in Bangkok, no problem. The Magic Jack unit comes with its own onboard software, which provides an on-screen dialing menu and phonebook. (That also means you can carry it with you anywhere traveling, and plug it into any broadband equipped PC with USB. It's totally location independent.) But I like just picking up my attached phone and calling (just by dialing the U.S. destination area code and local number) using the regular phone keypad.

But the best part for me has been re-acquiring my own local U.S. phone number, which I gave up when I moved here. Before, it was a hassle because most people back home typically aren't familiar with calling Thailand or how to do it economically (through calling cards and such). Just picking up their home phone and calling here would cost a fortune. And not everyone back home is into computers and setting up Skype accounts and such. Plus, for banking and business purposes, it's very good to have a U.S. local number that can be called to and answered here, even though I'm not there in the U.S. BTW, I chose an area code in Southern California that matches the one for my parents' home, so now they can call me directly from their regular home phone as a local, no toll call for them.

By comparison, getting a local U.S. number through Skype In is $60 a year.

The main downside risk for Magic Jack, I believe, is their calling functionality and phone number assignments are proprietary to the company, which is a relatively recent start-up. So, worst case scenario, if the company goes under at some point in the future, you'd be out the purchase price and/or an annual calling fee. But for $40 and unlimited calling back to the States and having my own local U.S. phone number again, ($40 being about the price of one month's standard U.S. phone service) that's a $40 bet I'm willing to take. Plus, from various accounts, the units are selling very well. And for the record, there's nothing illegal or under the table about this service. Nothing here is sneaking. It's just the latest evolution of Voice Over IP calling.

The unit itself comes with a USB-RJ11 phone jack extension cord that's about 8 inches long, just in case, as was the case with my PC, that plugging the small Magic Jack unit directly into my multi-port USB hub would block an adjoining USB slot. By using the short extension, the unit can easily be plugged into a USB port of any kind/any location in your PC without blocking access to anything nearby.

In terms of installation, it wasn't quite as simple as promised for my Windows XP. But Magic Jack has online chat technical support. So it turned out (something they don't document on their tech support resources on their web site) that I needed to turn down a security setting I had in Internet Explorer (from high to medium) in order to prevent the unit from being blocked. After changing that setting, the unit self-installed nicely and I haven't had any further problems.

For the record, I have nothing to do with this service/company, other than having bought their unit lately.

Their web site (with more info and online purchasing capability) is located here:

http://www.magicjack.com

Here's a blurb from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technolo...its/04jack.html

It also garnered an Editors Choice Award from PC Mag:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2250257,00.asp

I wouldn't argue it's "the best" having not yet tried all the others. But I happened to stop by Bully's Pub on Suk Road near Soi 4 last night and wanted to try their hamburgers for the first time. The result was a pleasant, satisfying hamburger meal...certainly worth a shot.

They have about 4 burger choices on the menu, hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon-guacamole and chili...prices ranging from about 180 for the simple burger to more than 200 for the fancier ones. I tried the bacon -guacamole for 210 baht, I believe.

The meat was nice and thick, and well cooked, meaning done enough but not burned or zapped dry. And it tasted like beef, not any variety of seasonings/flavorings added elsewhere. The hamburger bun was soft, fresh and warm, but not soggy or dry. Two slices of good bacon and a dollop of guac. Slices of iceberg lettuce and tomato on the side, along with a small portion of pretty good fresh fries and a cup of pretty moist cole slaw (not a big favorite for me).

Next time, I'd probably also order a side of french fries for about 90 baht, since the portion that comes with the burger is pretty small. But all in all, it was a nice change from the paper thin, fried burgers at the fast food places. And no gummy sauces or additives that I could detect. Just a fresh, clean tasting burger.

The inside environment is pretty nice too, good air con with some booths for four and other tables in the center of the room, 4 or more large screen TVs with sports on, and a large bar menu of beers (though seemingly a bit higher priced than other comparable pubs).

All in all, I'd go back again to have another burger or try one of the other varieties available.

Sorry for my 1 vs. 2 typo... yes.... the day to day rates have been bouncing around between 32.6 and 32.8 lately.. both for ATM transactions and currency booth exchanges.

The conversion rate today at Bangkok Bank is 32.80. Don't know where that 31.75 figure comes from but it is low (perhaps a cash exchange rate?).

I don't have a dog in this fight... but here's the bottom line...

That area, around Soi 7, as previously stated, is "great" for small local bars and hookers... So, if you don't mind that environment or are looking to frequent those passtimes, then it's an OK area to stay. Close to Nana BTS and located between Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza (much closer to Nana). I don't have any experience with the particular hotel you're asking about.

On the other hand, if that's not your pursuit, there certainly are some much nicer places and areas to stay in the same general region of Sukhumvit. There's some guesthouse places not far away on Soi 11 that probably are in the same price range, well reviewed, and in much nicer surroundings.

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