JohnLocke

Bangkok bank let's me withdraw 25,000. per transaction. SCB 20,000.

So, went to Pantip Plaza (near Night Bizaar) and w/drew 25K baht from the ground floor ATM. What a relief!

Very much obliged for all the helpful replies. Obviously, there hasn't been a restriction to only 10K as I feared.

Land o' smiles, continues on...

No, wasn't Fast Cash. Also, tried a TMB ATM with similar results. I will try tomorrow and see if I have better luck. As I started by saying, this is really anecdotal/unsubstantiated/unscientific - just a shot in the dark to see if anyone had any info. It obviously could just be something wrong with my HSBC bank being offline for 10 mins. or any other number of factors. In any case, apologies for a half-baked posting.

I'll see what happens tomorrow - will try a bunch of banks, and report back. Cheers.

Appreciate the fast replies - but - could you add the name of the bank you w/drew from too? Unless the implication is that you also used Kasikorn...

Thanks.

This may be just a momentary glitch and is quite unsubstantiated, BUT...

I have successfully w/drawn 20,000 baht at a time from a local Kasikorn ATM here in Chiang Mai for the past three months and today I was refused. I know from trial and error that several banks have (always?) limited ATM w/drawls with foreign bank cards to 10,000 only (such as Siam Bank), and so, I knew that in due time Kasikorn would likely reduce it to that amount too. Obviously, to better milk those 150 baht fees from the foreign-card holder.

So, this is a casual request - anyone having luck taking out 20,000 baht at a time at a brand name Thai bank? I am aware that there is a vast 73 page posting that is relevant, but I just want to cut to the chase...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-Banks-S...25#entry2975460

I stand corrected - indeed, "enter before". Well done chaps.

I've already stumbled upon two postings saying it better and more concisely than I did in this post. Kudos to Ubonjoe and Tropo.

"You just have to be sure and do the 2nd entry before the enter before date on your visa."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Triple-Entry...11#entry2808911

and here:

"A 2x or 3x tourist visa from Vientiane is only valid for 90 days. You have to use your last entry before the last day (use before date) printed on your visa sticker, no matter how many entries you have."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Triple-Entry...21#entry2809221

Yes. The validity is 90 days. You have to make the second entry by then.

You can go to Vientiane again and apply for another one.

That's good news, thank you.

Also, I know I was stating something that's surely been posted here in myriad topics a few dozen times at least. But, as we learned the hard way, it probably bears incessant repeating to help other poor saps.

My wife and I, for the first time in two years of doing 3-month tourist visa runs in neighboring countries finally got a glorious, for-free, double-entry tourist visa in Vientiane.

Our visa stickers say "double entry" and "must enter by July 26th". We naturally assumed that meant - start your six months by July 26th.

In fact, it means, start your three months ASAP, and then go to Mae Sai (or wherever) and get back into Thailand by July 26th to activate the second three months.

Because we went to the Immigration office and extended the first two months to get that third month, the small stamp the officer gave us said "permitted to stay until July 27th". Unfortunately, we were greedy for even one extra day, and we went to Mae Sai on the 27th and lost our remaining 3 months of our double-entry visas. Had we done our Mae Sai run one day earlier, we would have been O.K.

So, fair warning to anyone who's new to double-entry tourist visas - it's the printed date on the visa sticker itself which determines when you must get in and out to activate the second half of the double-entry visa.

Finally - a big question: does anyone have any idea if we go back to Vientiane in two weeks, can we possibly get ANOTHER double-entry tourist visa? Or will we have an issue even getting a single-entry visa since we were there back in April? Should we go somewhere else instead?

Cheers.

Thank you ladies!

My wife has tried three different hair salons in Chiang Mai, ranging from a back street uni. student kind of place to a somewhat upscale place, and still hasn't found anywhere satisfactory. None were that bad, but she's wondering if anyone has found a good hair salon out there?

She is after a place that predominantly uses scissors instead of a razor (to give a "shaggy" hair cut), and hopes to keep it under 400 baht for the cut (no interest in perm, dye, etc.).

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Oh Yes! We LOVE Rim Ping,too, and really wish there was a branch near Central/KSK area. Tops is a fairly poor replacement for RP. Seems like anytime we find something good at Tops it's guaranteed to be out of stock (almost) every time after. Sigh...

Neither the Bangkok Post or The Nation are reporting on these deaths in Phi Phi and I wrote them 2 days ago,

but the Swedish woman strangled on a Krabi beach has a mention .

That speaks volumes about what is going on.

It was on Bangkok Post Friday May 8th's front page on the lower right. Here's a link to the online article:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1631...-kills-tourists

I must say, this last line seems like bureaucracy-speak - i.e., I have no report on my desk, therefore I know nothing about the case... Perhaps it's just the way the reporter phrased it?

"Supamit Chunsuthiwat, director of the Disease Control Department's emerging infectious diseases unit, said he had not received any reports about the foreigners' deaths."

Here it is in the Nation online (also dated May 8th):

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/rea...newsid=30102230

Does anyone know when/if the 19-year-old Norwegian woman traveling with Miss Bergheim will make a statement of some sort? Would be informative to know what her symptoms were, and what treatment the hospital gave her. I believe I read that she is on her way back to her home country? The most relevant information seems to be coming from those who were directly involved, after all.

Our condolences to all the families involved in this sad affair. Our thoughts are with you, and we hope you will find some answers eventually.

It's now on Huffington Post (which has a very large readership), so the story is spreading. Unfortunately, it seems to be lacking a lot of important information that has been covered in this thread. And, equally unfortunately, they give the last word to the g.h. owner - " 'I don't know if it was something she ate or if it was because she went out to party,' guesthouse owner Asan Buntam said."

Koh Phi Phi: 2 Tourists Suddenly Dead From Mystery Illness At Thai Resort

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/07/k...u_n_199009.html

I'm waiting for it to appear on ProMED (http://www.promedmail.org), which covers even the most obscure outbreaks or bouts of food poisoning (i.e., even in remote villages in Isaan) from a science and epidemiology standpoint. I'll post it here when/if it does appear on ProMED.

much thanks for all the helpful replies... have to find out if "lok che nuu" is Hanta Virus? That's no fun whatsoever - know someone who died from it at the ripe age of 20 (he was sweeping and cleaning up an old storage room in the U.S.).

Appreciate the gentle co-miseration (a Yankee term), but, still wondering if anyone has a clue what the general Thai might feel? I will of course ask my Thai friends, but often the truth is hard to elicit if a question like that is put forward too directly.

Aside from the life-crushing pollution grinding down our spirits this week, today was a sad day for my wife and I. Our favorite eatery, which shall go unnamed, has been over-run with... rats. First it was one rat running in and out from the street last week. Then two. Then today, four (four!) rats romping and cavorting all over in the 2m x 2m floor area between the food prep. area, and the cafeteria-style (open) food display area (facing the street). At 2pm (in other words - broad daylight).

We've been loyal happy campers here for about a year, and the food has always been just great. The woman who runs the place is a real sweet-heart, but I think she's getting tired of the work. She has hired a young girl to do half the work, and methinks she's a bit of a country lass, as four rats right at her feet didn't even elicit a raised eyebrow.

So! Aside from our predictable foreigners' reaction, which is horror, we are just wondering - what do Thais think? We have seen rats aplenty here, but this is too much. Would the average Thai reconsider eating at a small eatery with this kind of rat presence? Is it all mai-phen-rai, or would this make regular natives feel uncomfortable too?

Needless to say, we will not eat there for a while, in hopes she'll fix the problem. It's just sad, and once again something great going bad here (for us).

My wife and I just returned to Chiang Mai after 7 months absence and have not been able to find our usual non-desert, non-sweet plain yogurt anywhere. One had an orange/white sticker and was labeled as Bulgarian Yogurt, the other's brand name is "Nurses Yogurt". TOPs used to carry the orange sticker one. We've looked for it at three of main TOPs stores, Kasem Store, and Good Health to no avail.

Any clues would be appreciated.

I'm planning to enter Laos thru Huay Xai and have heard that they don't issue V.O.A.s there. My source: a six-yr. old Lonely Planet Laos guide.

I don't expect to get it for free (have been to Vientiane a few times via the Friendship Bridge), but have heard you pay extra buying it in Chiang Khong from a travel agent.

Does anyone have any current information? Can a cheaper visa be arranged in Chiang Mai (without having to send your passport to BKK or anything)?

Thanks.

Just wanted to say thank you all very much! Will discuss with my wife and we'll go with one of the choices you mentioned. Thanks for the info.

I have a bunch of women's clothing, in good condition, which I'd like to donate. Churches, NGOs, charities - anywhere would be fine. I just want to be able to drop it off myself, as opposed to mailing it to some P.O. Box. Any suggestions anyone? Thanks alot!