Pakaty

I would not go there either. But damn, if I could afford to keep a big cat I'd surely keep it drugged and chained up all day so my friends and I can have our photos taken with it. Of course I'd make sure to have a nicely landscaped area for those photo opportunities. Hell maybe even a tip jar for those that appreciate my valiant efforts.

Too much sarcasm???

 

Do you have a death wish or is it that you are completely out of your mind?<snip>

Way, way overdone, it actually is a nice ride.

And if it's raining???? Two people on a motorbike, in the wet, with luggage, for 1 hour on Phuket, on a major bus, minivan and taxi route - very dangerous.

So don't do it on a bike if it is raining. I would presume some common sense present here. The coastal road is not a major bus, minivan and taxiroute BTW, but you'd have to venture outside of your beloved Patong to know that.

Agreed, nice ride if its not raining. Just use the coast road Kamala, Surin then turn left at the Cherng Talay police station as opposed to going thru to two-heroins monument. Do not use By-pass road coming from Patong! Even when I lived in Patong I used the coastal route. I do Kamala-airport and back 30 minutes each way. I would slow it down if I had a passenger though. As long as your friend is flying with only carry-on bags its not a problem. Rain is an inconvenience but not a show stopper IMHO.

I seems your Thai translation is closer to millipede as well according to this. But as canuckamuck says at leaste they don't bite.

No it is not a centipede.

Centipedes are usually brownish, flattened, and elongated with many body segments and have one pair of legs attached to most of these body segments.

Centipedes differ from millipedes in that millipedes have two pairs of legs on most segments and bodies which are not flattened.

The critter in your photo clearly has 2 pair of legs per segment.

I bought these Logitech H800 about a year ago and I have been very happy with them. They were US $90. They are great at night for watching movies or gaming without disturbing that special someone who is lying next to you and keeping you awake with thier snoring

They connect via usb dongle or bluetooth. I find the bluetooth works fine so I use that and keep the usb port free. The dongle stores in a compartment with the battery.

You can connect with stereo or VIOP telephoney. Stereo sounds full, deep and clear. Telephoney works great w/skype and my Magicjack. Volume control on the headset.

Comes with a usb cable for re-charging only! The cable will not carry signal for sound. But I have found that my Samsung phone wall charger will charge the headset as well! 6+ hours of use on a charge is no problem.

Divided by 30 days, that would give you 333.33 Baht per day. A cheap room would be about 500 B a day (I doubt you will find much cheaper). So, no you need more money. 15,000 for a room + your daily expenses.

Thanks for the feedback re: Schwab and Capital One.

I would have to agree that Capital One (and 360) is currently not worth bothering with. I just went to capitalone.com to confirm exactly what type of account I have. Clicking on personal banking redirects to Capitalone360.com now and they sure aren't offering the same services that I signed up for any longer. I had to log into my account including resetting my security questions since it has been so long since I have used it. Any way I have an "Interest Online Checking" account that has no minimum balance. Again Capital One refunds ATM fees (including foreign) up to a a max of $25 a month. They just won't refund the 150 baht Thai bank fee as they say its a currency exchange fee and not a service fee. I'm not looking to fight with cap 1 about this. I just quit using them as the only reason I opened an account with them was to save on ATM fees. I just wanted share my experience with them as they are mentioned in this thread and I have been meaning to pursue new banking options. I see sharing my experience doesn't even matter since Cap 1 no longer offers this type of account. Good thread, thanks for sharing all your research.

Oh forgot to mention the other limitation of this account is that I can only withdraw $600 per day or per transaction...I forget which it is. But I would much rather go to BKK Bank and take out 25'000 B at a time rather than the 18'000 ($600) or so that I am limited to.

I opened a Capital One account. They advertised that they refund ATM service fees (including foreign ATM's) up to $25 per month. For the first month or two they were refunding the Thai ATM 150 Baht fee. Then they stopped, saying that the 150 Baht fee was not a service fee but a "foreign currency conversion fee" even though MasterCard is the one that handles FOREX conversion and rates. And, no it never has worked in an Aeon ATM.

I've been meaning to look into a Schwab account.

Anyone with experience or thoughts to share?

Hafa Flip, Tiger Air has promo fares to Singapore. 1100 Baht each way not including taxes. All in was 4200 Baht HKT-SIN-HKT. I only booked the flight 2 days before as well. I had booked to go to Ranong and just for the hell of it started browsing air fares and found this. For me it was well worth it, especially since the rate to go to Andaman Club I was quoted is now 2000 Baht and I got to skip that hellish van ride. All in all it was a pleasant visa run, though I would rather not have had to do it at all. I had a few hours to kill before the return trip to HKT so I took the MRT into town.

@ KED Thanks for replying to Ikarus11. I was tempted to reply but since you did I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, just to follow up. I got the video card for my Sager laptop back a couple of weeks ago. Sager still put the retail value of $400 for the card on the customs declaration and sent it back USPS. I got hit for 1000 Baht on this end. Oh well, at leaste I got a new working card. It only cost me about $140 for shipping + customs.

Thanks for the replies.

I have used Mr. Smith 4 times by USPS. Usually it is about a week to get my pasport back by mail. Never had a problem.

I have used the consulate in Los Angeles a couple times...NEVER AGAIN. They reminded me of Thai Immigration, quite unwelcoming.

Have I seen this headline every year for the past 7 years??? Hmm...must be Déjà vu. It wouldn't be the first time.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Air-India-pilot-locked-out-of-cockpit/articleshow/20058910.cms

Entertaining stories from this carrier. I'll give bollywood a pass but I just might watch an Air India reality TV show.

They are starting to annoy me here in Kamala. And I'm a pilot and even worked at a Helicopter flight school so I'm fairly sypathetic to aircraft noise. But they flying over ther the house too often and too low for my taste. Bring on the rain it's getting hot out there. It sure was nice and cool Sunday....quiet too except for a bit of thunder.

Now I understand why there are so many posters asking for advice on letting thier children fly alone.

Okay little Willy, Sorry we could not all get on the same flight. Don't worry Mum and Dad are on the flight two hours behind you. When you land at the airport find the lost and found and wait for us there. We'll be along to collect you soon. Don't worry the cabin crew will take great care of you. Bye bye, don't forget to have FUN and ENJOY the flight. Is that your cap gun? You little angel.

There's an old fellow on Nanai Rd. that keeps his hair dyed purple or blue. I've seen him many many times for years now usually around the southern end of Nanai a little past Makro near where Ha Sip Pee (the mountain road) meets Nanai. I'm sure many of you have seen him. He kinda stands out in a crowd. You might keep an eye out for him and ask where he gets it done. They would probably have other colors to chose from if you don't like purple or blue

Where and how do I get "Expat Shield"

http://download.cnet.com/Expat-Shield/3000-2092_4-75211377.html

Re: your topic title...I think that the border official will more than likely allow you to enter if you have been issued a new visa.

The concern is if you will be issued more visas when you apply, especialy if you had applied at same location 3-4 or more times before. A new passport would not hurt and may help you chances of not being denied one. I don't know, but I would like to. I got a stamp in my passport saying not to apply for any more visas in Penang years ago and was denied the visa as well. I have wondered what would happen there if I had a new passport and/or applied for a different type of visa.

There is the Royal Thai consulate in Los Angeles. It is operated by the Thai government so I would guess that L.A. could process visas as well as D.C. can. I used them by mail a couple of times for tourist visas with no problems. Once I decided to drive there and apply in person. They were unfriendly to the extream. Since then I have only used the honerary consulate in Houston and by mail, but I have an American passport. I did not realize the honerary conculates don't process foreign passports.

I'm not sure if I have any control over who the computer company choses to return the part with, but I guess it would not hurt tho ask them to use USPS. I'll use a courier service to send it though. I not worried about customs sending it to the USA, just on the way back. Besides I stumbled on a website that has customer reviews of package delivery services and Thai Post did not get a lot of good reviews.

http://www.packagetrackr.com/review/thailand-post

Thanks for the replies.

Thank You All, for the helpful replies!

I'm with the OP. It is a filthy habit. If I'm in a place and someone lites up near me and its drifting in my direction I change tables or seats.

I just remembered a few years ago on a Chistmas Eve I was at a quiet bar and having a friendly coversation with the farang owner and his 3 staff, all smoking. I was midway down the bar and they were at one end and asked me to come join them. I declined as politly as I could explaining that I did not care for cigarette smoke. It went bad. I was accused of speaking no good and yelled at, told to leave and theatened with one of those metal hooks they use to pull down the roll up door. The woman kept beating the bar in front of me with. I will never understand the reaction I got. It started with the girls (fat old ladies and no I never said that to them) but the owner (another old geezer) was happy to join in as well.

I would have too.

Isn't it time for your smog check?

I'm with the OP. It is a filthy habit. If I'm in a place and someone lites up near me and its drifting in my direction I change tables or seats.

I just remembered a few years ago on a Chistmas Eve I was at a quiet bar and having a friendly coversation with the farang owner and his 3 staff, all smoking. I was midway down the bar and they were at one end and asked me to come join them. I declined as politly as I could explaining that I did not care for cigarette smoke. It went bad. I was accused of speaking no good and yelled at, told to leave and theatened with one of those metal hooks they use to pull down the roll up door. The woman kept beating the bar in front of me with it. I will never understand the reaction I got. It started with the girls (fat old ladies and no I never said that to them) but the owner (another old geezer) was happy to join in as well.

I have read about some fustrating dealings with Thai Customs on this site so I'm trying to get an idea of what to expect. I don't mind paying a reasoable fee. In my mind anything over 500 Baht is getting unreasonable. But since its not up to me...

I'm sending a small circut board (8x8 cm) from my laptop to the manufacterer in the USA for testing/repair/replacement under warranty. What should I expect when the manufacterer shipps me back the part? I have had the laptop about 16 months. I have no clue what the value of the part is as it was included in the cost of the laptop. Does anyone with experience in this matter have any ideas?

Hi FedEx's website list this address. http://www.fedex.com/th/dropoff/?&lid=/Ship/Locations

24/5 Thepkasatri Rd, Moo 6
Tumbol Rasada, Amphur Muang
Phuket, 83000 Thailand

But they don't list a phone #.

I took a drive up the road using Google Earth Street View but I could not spot the office. I'm just trying to narrrow down the location as its a long road.

I found DHL I just want to compare the quote I got from them to another company. I gather UPS is not here is that correct? I can't find TNT's locations on their website but I called their number 1721 and the girl said she would email me the phuket location but that never came so if anyone knows where that is as well it would be helpful. http://www.tnt.com/express/en_th/site/home.html

Am I missing any other parcel sevices? I think Thai Post is out after reading some negative reviews by people whose packages never arrived. http://www.packagetrackr.com/review/thailand-post