Beacher

If a Thai national is flying to Canada from Thailand via the U.S. (transit only) with a Canadian tourist/visitor visa, would he also need a U.S. visa if landing there in transit?

Yes, any entry into the USA, even transit only, requires a Visa or if eligible a VW.

Extrace From www.uscis.gov Until further notice, all in-transit passengers and passengers

on progressive flights will be inspected at the first U.S.

port of arrival. This supersedes previous in-transit passenger

processes. These new procedures also require CBP inspection of progressive flights (flights clearing passengers at more than one port) at the first port.

Have a great week.

Peter

So, does this mean that people flying to Canada via USA will basically have clear custom's inspection twice -- once in the USA and then again in Canada, or does it mean that the USA customs officials are now doing the job for Canada Customs Department in these situations? (Or have totally misinterpreted the above post?)

I upgraded tr to FF3 a couple of days ago and haven't noticed any real speed differences, but Flash stopped working. That was easily resolved by unistalling AdBlock and replacing it with Adblock Plus.

However, the slower download speeds people are talking about may be attributable to the fact it seems to incorporate a virus scan with the download process, and that seems to be something new. Mind you, I typically only download torrent files anyway, and they're so small I'd never notice.

Now Libya 115, did you word your thread title just to get reactions? I mean. who can resist?

"...Killed By Death"

I can hear the conversation with the coroner, "Yes, it looks like the cause of death was "death".

You kind of need to appear financially stable before you sell insurance. Would work much better if you co-branded with one of the "real" insurance companies.... as in, get rid of the TV part, and just keep the AXA, AIG, Allianz, etc. etc. part.

Sorry, please let me explain. We are Insurance Brokers not an Insurance Company.

We therefore have the 'pick' of all the available insurance companies products – including the companies you mentioned.

For this reason we can offer the best advice and solutions to Thai Visa members.

I'm probably wrong, but I'd think that by getting insurance through Thaivisa Insurance I'm adding another middleman to the situation which would inevitably raise the price. Wouldn't I be better off just to approach the real insurance companies that TV Insurance uses (or other ones) directly and negotiate a price with them, thereby eliminating another profit seeking entity?

I agree that the type of behaviour the OP mentions is neither appropriate nor professional, but I can't understand why he lets it get to him so much. It certainly seems that he is working with some real jerks, and changing jobs will likely only expose him to more jerks doing the same things or other activities that he disapproves of. Perhaps he'd be best off just to worry about his own life and realize that there's not much he can do to change other people or the way the school's admin people run the show there.

So my friend, don't drive yourself crazy with this stuff -- just do your best job and take pride in that.

What gall!

The Bangkok post is not much more that a propaganda vehicle for the Thai government (at least it was the last time I looked at that rag during the Taksin administration).

The fact that people pay anything to read stories written by frightened and/or gagged Thai reporters is beyond me.

What a load of crap! I've known several Indians and they don't have an offensive odor as collective group. Like all people, if someone eats strong flavours like onions and garlic it will eventually come out though their pores when they sweat. Just like garlic will linger in one's mouth for a long time. I have cetrainly been more turned off by smell when a Thai bar girl walks up to me and nearly knocks me off my stool with her spicy garlic breath, or by the many farang I pass when shopping who smell so stongly of body odor that I can only assume they haven't heard about taking showers with soap or using deodorant.

So don't try to tell us that "it goes without question"... Your racist assumption is certainly one to be questioned.

Some of these are the strangest beer myths I have ever heard. Do people really believe that the best beers come in green bottles and the color of a beer indicates how much alcohol it contains?

But the one that concerns me is this: "It seems widely believed that Singha is brewed with formaldehyde, as is Chang beer, San Miguel, Vietnamese 33, and Singapore's Tiger Beer" This appears to be a myth, but are there any big differences in the brewing methods used in Thailand? What I mean is, is one brand of beer healthier, so to speak, than another. I can pay about 60 baht for a large Heineken at the supermarket or 30 for a large Archa. Is Archa worse in any way (relating to health) than Heineken? Or am I really paying almost twice as much because of Heineken's hefty advertising budget and (supposed) better taste?

I used Skype for a long time, but they became expensive when they started to impose a connection fee, so I switched to Yahoo Voice. The quality of Skype also became bad and I often had to try several times before getting a decent line. Yahoo has been excellent -- better quality and much cheaper at 1 cent a minute to N.A. and to London, England. Other UK rates are as follows:

United Kingdom (outside London)

$0.017

United Kingdom, Mobile

$0.205

ya ba and withdrawal pains ? Are we talking heroin here or methamphetamine ? Cravings maybe, but withdrawal ? Don't think so.

You seem to have more experience with or knowledge about this, and I am quite willing to admit that I've never tried either ya ba or heroin, so I'll take you on your word that mine is not a reasonable speculation. I always got the impression that ya ba is a very (physically) addictive substance, and therefore one would likely be subject to painful withdrawl symtoms, but thank you for correcting me.

I would think it reasonable to suspect that the prisoner was addicted to Yaba and killed himself because the withdrawal pains were too intense for him to handle.

You've got wonder if the people writing (making up) stories at the Pattaya Daily News and Pattaya One News are on some of the strongest drugs known to man.

Wow, I'm going to mark this day in my calendar -- 16 posts in a TV thread that all basically agree.

No insults and general mud slinging. Just everybody in agreement that Thai voice-overs in English language movies are for the most part irritating. I think the only other time I remember this type of overall agreement happening is when an OP complained about baht bus drivers -- I don't think anybody likes them.

I'm sure many of you have heard the voices overs for foriegn movies dubbed in Thai. It always seems to be the same ppl putting on different voices and they've been doing it for years now. It can sound quite funny, especially when the laugh or put on kid's voices.

Does anyone have info on the 'voice over' ppl?

Geez, I don't think they even bother putting on different voices -- they always sound the exact same to me, movie after movie for ages now.

To all of you, especially "Farang food famine in Ubon" and "GF gender in Udon".

. Sing it brothers.

When it is raining and blowing a full storm here in northern Buriram we have to go to bed without dinner. Could not come out of the house to go to the market. Happened twice this month.

Otherwise the girls are OK. A little old maybe. The young ones are away to Pattaya, Kho Samui and Phuket to catch their farang (you hear the song "Ipput dai prua farang" ?).

Anyhow, next week I go down to Pattaya myself and stay one month to see if the weather there is better for my asthma than the weather up here. Anybody else here in Isaan who have the same problems with short breath or no breath at all ?

I don't know if you'll find the young ones in Pattaya. The way I've heard it is that the girls leave Issan and start their (bar) careers in Bangkok. Then once they begin to get a bit worn out, they move on to Phuket. After some time in Phuket and they start to show their age pretty badly, they finally semi-retire in Pattaya -- still working the bars. As I said, this what I've heard and judging by many of the bar ladies I've seen in Pattaya there just might be some truth to it. Has anybody else heard this theory before?

<deleted>???

I'm having a lot of trouble getting excited about a Tesco bag that's seems to made of a little heavier plastic.

I guess it might be interpreted as a move in the right direction, but the bottom line is that it's still a plastic bag with much more limited durability than cloth. It will inevitably wash up on a Thailand beach or be burned at a landfill site, whereas a cloth one can be used many many more times, won't send fumes into the air that are as toxic as plastic ones if burned, and if it does wash up on a beach there's a chance that some poor person might find it and reuse it.

If the Thai government or companies like Tesco were to get serious about the problem of plastic bags contributing to pollution and waste, they should consider commissioning a company to make millions of durable cloth shopping sacs that could be sold basically at cost, thereby enticing consumers to opt for that choice. It seems that the only cloth shopping sacs I've seen that were available for sale are not cheap enough to tempt me.

I appreciate all the replies.

The general advice to not actually drink this stuff comes as no surprise (after tasting it). Even if one managed to make it a little more palitable by watering it down, etc. seems like health concerns are an issue.

I guess I'm just destined to be only a beer drinker, although I do like a bit of Sang Som with soda, coke and lime -- sort a cheap version of a Cuba Libra. OMG, that just brought up another question: Is Sang Som safe?

I typically drink a couple of beers a few times a week. However, last weekend while doing my shopping, a beverage (to use the term loosely) called Siam Sato caught my eye. I've seen the stuff before but have never tried it, so I decided to buy a bottle. Yeah, I know it's really cheap (under 30 baht a bottle) and that should probably tell me all I need to know, but I guess I wanted to believe that this stuff might be something a little different and maybe even half-decent in an interesting kind of way.

I took it home and put it the freezer to get it well chilled. After reaching a nice cold temperature, I poured myself a little glass and tried it. I must say that this is some of the foulest stuff I have ever tasted. I figure that it best compares to what gasahol and sugar must taste like when mixed together -- very nasty stuff.

Anyway, I was just wondering if other people have had any experience with Siam Sato. Is it safe to drink? Is there any way to make it palitable? Can I put in the gas tank of my car? Will it destroy my PVC piping if pour it down the drain?

But that's OK, I'm not taking what you say here personally either. However, I'm surprised that some people are taking my commment personally.

LOL, welcome to ThaiVisa......

Although I'm just a lurker waiting to hurl insults at people cos I've nothing better to do with my day, I don't take it personal either.

That's a nice honest comment.

I'm quite surprised that this thread has survived.

I thought there were rules about racist comments in TV post, yet this one seems almost dedicated to making racist slurs -- many posts that call Thais stupid -- more that claim Israelis are lazy and worse than Thais -- another that says Kuwaitis are even worse again.

I don't really care what people say, and I don't belong to any of the ethnic groups mentioned, so I'm not taking anything personal here. I'm just surprised that nobody's put the kibosh on this one.

I an heartily sick of the Racist Card being used for evey excuse under the sun, the Rants posted above are exactly that, every body Rants at times its a way of letting off steam, much more healthy I think than the Thai way ( is this a racist comment? I dont think so!) where people ( not everyone of course) suppress their feelings and when the pressure gets too much they run up the road gets a gun and kills someone for the sightest offense, be it imaginary or otherwise.

The above rants are a relection of people's experiences, nothing more and nothing less, if their experiences had been in London, New York, Cape Town, Chang Mai, Tokyo, Brussels or any other place it would have not altered the tone or the frustration felt by the poster, its not racism its human nature, get over it.

In case you havent noticed , most posters are eithe rmarried or in a relationship with a Thai person, is it really racist to complain about the wife/husband? IF so the whole world must be racist.

Whilst you say you dont belong to either of the ethnic groups mentioned, so your not taking anything personal here, I an the fact you feel the need to Rant about these postings is a measure of your personal opposition to the theme, that personal I think.

Rant over.

Roy gsd

roy gsd

Relax, Roy gsd -- my post is REALLY not a rant. It just seems that there have been what I would term "less offensive threads" here on TV forum that have been quickly closed. I was only saying that this one had many comments that seem to express racism, and I was surprised that the mods have left it alone.

But that's OK, I'm not taking what you say here personally either. However, I'm surprised that some people are taking my commment personally.

I'm quite surprised that this thread has survived.

I thought there were rules about racist comments in TV post, yet this one seems almost dedicated to making racist slurs -- many posts that call Thais stupid -- more that claim Israelis are lazy and worse than Thais -- another that says Kuwaitis are even worse again.

I don't really care what people say

Obviously you do.

Let's include the whole line I wrote rather than the select little bit you conveniently used for your insult.

"I don't really care what people say, and I don't belong to any of the ethnic groups mentioned, so I'm not taking anything personal here. I'm just surprised that nobody's put the kibosh on this one."

Now, let me simplifiy this for you. What I meant was that I don't really care what people say about ethnic groups. I don't think it's good to be bigotted but it's a fact of life that many people feel or show prejudice. If I did worry about all the racist comments made in this world, I'd have no time to enjoy the good things.

BTW, lurking around on TV forum waiting to insult people when there's really no reason seems like a strange hobby, but I guess some people have a harder time filling their days than others.

Two security researchers have demonstrated a new technique to stealthily intercept internet traffic on a scale previously presumed to be unavailable to anyone outside of intelligence agencies like the National Security Agency.

The tactic exploits the internet routing protocol BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) to let an attacker surreptitiously monitor unencrypted internet traffic anywhere in the world, and even modify it before it reaches its destination.

Read More here

Isn't virtually everything that's even close to being sensative material encrypted anyway these days?

I'm quite surprised that this thread has survived.

I thought there were rules about racist comments in TV post, yet this one seems almost dedicated to making racist slurs -- many posts that call Thais stupid -- more that claim Israelis are lazy and worse than Thais -- another that says Kuwaitis are even worse again.

I don't really care what people say, and I don't belong to any of the ethnic groups mentioned, so I'm not taking anything personal here. I'm just surprised that nobody's put the kibosh on this one.

To answer your question, about a year ago there was news report saying that Thailand would not allow 2 strokes on the roads in the next 5 years to comply with world standards on emissions. So I would expect that you have at least 4 years left.

How many laws have been talked about or passed in Thailand without any true results? Answer: Most of them.

I really wouldn't worry about this law if it is ever ratified. I suspect that there are laws about 11-year-old children speeding on motorcycles while in the wrong lane and not wearing helmets, but that sight is as common as a mangy dog on Thai roads.

Laws truly enforced in Thailand -- ha ha ha ha ha ha...

In this day and age when we are bombarded by eletronic images of every type and description of person, to hear Thai people make comments about or point out the simple presence of a foreign white-skinned person (farang, if you must) seems very childish and silly, but TIT.

Besides, look at most advertisements in Thailand where a person is used to promote a product, and you'll see that the people in those ads rarely look Thai -- they are usually white skinned and very foreign looking, so if they want to see what foreigners look like they only need to look at the products on the shelves of their stores or the advertisements where models are used. This has always seemed very strange to me considering Thais will tell you that they are extremely proud people.

But anyway, when the situation arises where a parent points me out to his or her child and says, "Look, a farang." I usually look at them with a shocked and worried expression then quickly look behind me while saying, "Tee-nai?" Occasionally, the parent sees the humour in what I'm doing and has a chuckle, but usually they just looked confused. Oh well!

...Like the man said on another thread, he was told to regard Thai's as 5 year olds,...

Unfortunately, this seems true. I often get the impression that this is country of children having and raising children.