tomartoh

Just a blank page here in Krabi with DTAC Edge. However, when I add /get then I get the site

I've finally lost patience with 3bb and I now refuse to pay them. Although my bills were up to date they have cut me off for an unpaid bill in June.... How the hel_l does that happen. It was june for christ sake how can all the others be paid but not JUne. 3BB your internet service and customer service is shit.

I am now applying for true. which starts in my condo in November. Lets hope it is a bit better than this lot

If you don't pay them they will blacklist the contract holder.

Today I navigated to the Chiang Mai University web site. I have no involvement with this problem personally. As soon as the web site opened a pop-up appeared relating to the apparent problems.

MSPain

Could you be more specific about this website as at the risk of appearing more stupid than what i am i cannot find it.

As one who is involved in this fiasco i sincerely hope the thread remains open, as it appears to be the only way to get any up todate information. Even if one has to wade through a lot of extraneous detail.

Why those who are not involved wish to close it is beyond me as they just dont have to read this thread. It is a great shame that too many people here are pontificating about other matters and are so self opinionated.

The whys and wherefores of who might or might not be a doctor I dont care about and the reasons for what has happened dont really matter now as the deed is done. The resultant mess has been caused by innapropriate actions by Cmu and is really unforgivable. For what it is worth, Cmu did receive money from foreigners for courses and have not returned it after cancelling them.

I personally hope that those with some relevant information or experiences regarding the latest developments at Cmu continue to post here until there is nothing left to say.

My letter from Cmu said course finished on 30th October. What that is worth I don't know. I have personally been advised by "those who should know" to keep my head down and not get arrested by the police and to leave for another visa when convenient. So I am going to Walen as they appear to offer the convenience i need. In response to those who are less than enthusiastic about him or his courses, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating and as I did say to him 'if they are less than professional it will certainly be posted''.. So we will see as i don't eat at Macdonalds

Regarding this whole mess with Cmu one needs to look into the mindset of the Thais. I don't think there was any desire or plan to cheat foreigners or students or whatever, no more so than usual that is. Rather a knee jerk reaction, Thai style to what was seen as a problem as has been hinted at in various posts, That as usual, was not thought out thoroughly and resulted in the usual cock up. So in order to get at one person they cause problems to many. They obviously don't think in terms of limiting collateral damage. Immigration are just following the regulations as they stand without any malicious intent, just doing there job.

In a previous life in the UK i worked with emotionally damaged people. That experience has helped me immensely in my dealings with Thai people and their culture. But that is another story

I hope people continue to post requests for information without worrying if they are going to get a smart arsed response from those with too much time on there hands.

At first I thought the ''lost my motorcyle keys'' a bit silly to ask that but when I read it and thought about it and saw the responses it was in fact an interesting and useful thread. and the next time I lose mine i will be better prepared.. The other quoted posts I did'nt read as I dont use or think likely to use roll on deoderant and in case I would just ask the g/f as she is the font of information about the stock situation of Boots, Watsons, et al . I could have asked her but she would have thought that i was thinking that she had a body odour problem and instantly felt offended. The other post...............................oh well nevermind

Checking if someone has a PhD is a very simple thing to do. The person writes a thesis/dissertation and it goes into the holdings of the university library. Then you can simply search the library for it like you would for other things. It's not rocket science and they are put there so that people can FIND them.

Matt has told many people that he did a PhD in 2004 at the University of Queensland, and for a long time his bio stated this on the CMU website. This is a fact and not hearsay. Lo and behold, if you visit the UQ library they state that all doctoral theses/dissertations are in their library and you can search for them using the online catalog:

www.library.uq.edu.au/catalogue/theses.html

There's nothing there for Matthew John Kay.

All of the above has been recently confirmed (as of October 2010) by a UQ librarian.

If he actually has one, then why can't he simply just tell everyone here what the title of his thesis was and people can check? This would take two minutes and anyone who actually had one would be happy to share this information.

The reason why all this this continues is because he has failed to do so.

And why is this important? Well, for one thing if doesn't have one it would would be proof of intentionally misleading people for a six-year period...

BTW, I noticed that in Professor Rien's announcement he referred to him as Mr. and not Dr. – I don't think that was a mistake.

Great post.

Really? How is the above on topic? How does it help anyone who lost money and possibly their visa when LICMU canceled the program?

And how does it help people who have been told at Immigration today that they cannot transfer to another visa from a CMU-linked visa? It would seem that someone living or working under the shadow of Doi Suthep wants everyone who was innocently on a course of any kind at LI out of the country .

Except, perhaps, for the guys who are now attending the 'continuing' Thai classes and paying half the teachers' salaries themsleves....there are, obviously, several born every minute.

How strange.

There are too many people fiddling while Rome burns , both on this post and in this city.

yes i could have signed on with cmu again when i went yesterday, there were about 30 already on the list

if i had done that, then my visa would have been safe

the woman who dealt with me wanted to put todays date for the cancellation of the course, which would have seen me out post haste.

i insisted on the end of the month as cmu had put in there notice on the internet. she was pretty arsey with me and told me that course had finished on the 30 of september. so i did point out that cmu had cancelled courses and fuc_ked up a lot of innocent peoples lives and i that was one of them

but they dont really care and cutting ones nose to spite the face is standard procedure here

makes you think

I find the 7Eleven girls more easy, went out with one several times.

Just found a girl on DIA who really turns me on, here (she could be an optical girl!) I think I'm givin it a go...but sheand she also not bad btw, i could be their father...

24 year old zaa from chiang mai looks ok............... we are all in with a chance there as she is looking for ''real love'' with a guy between 18 and 70.............. maybe do a visa run to singapore this weekend

Today i went to Cmu and got a letter stating the Thai language course had finished on 30 October. As the visa extension in my passport expires next year i applied to another language school and asked for them to process an application to the Ministry of Education to change schools and continue the visa and for me to continue as a student with them. Everything done as per the apparent rules. All looks ok

However, bombshell time, I have just been informed that although the paperwork is all in order, that immigration will not accept change over from Cmu courses and I have to leave the country by the 30th of this month

So it seems as if I had kept my head down i could have left at a later date and made perhaps better plans

Has anyone else had this happen to them.? Any constructive suggestions, thoughts?

What are the latest devlopments with Cmu language course? Have the Thai language courses at Cmu finished or not?.

I ask this as i want to move on with life and continue to study Thai at another language school, but notice that they are offering to continue the language courses for existing students

I understand that I need to get a letter from from the Cmu to say the courses have finished, in order that my visa extension can be kept in force.with another school.

Has anyone done this and got the letter from Cmu? Or is there any problems arising form going to another school and keeping existing visa extension?

OK i know the stories about not buying Thai electronics, but i have had a Soken DVD player for 8 years now without any problem, I am looking for a reasonably cheap mp3 player and saw this shop in local Tescos selling 'Eye On' electronic equipment, cameras, E.dict, mp3's etc. , made in Thailand and cheaper than Sony and all the major manufacturers.. with a 1 year guarantee!

I cannot buy a Soken mp3 as they only appear to have Thai language operating systems

Has anyone any experience of 'Eye On' products?

been in krabi cat office today and the price of the mifi is down to 7900bahts

the mc760 is discontinued and replaced with the ec150 at 2900bahts [big drop in price]

@ nickster, what does this mean

''it's made to be very mobile, and very small. If you live out in the sticks, and need a huge antenna attached to your CAT CDMA, you can easily get a normal USB stick with antenna connection + a cradle point router with USB connection to provide a normal WiFi hotspot (and ethernet too) from the CDMA connection''

sorry to be so thick, but i am thinking about getting cat cdma to use in krabi and any other travelling

what do you mean by advanced attacking skills?

i used to train and work gsd's and brought 2 to thailand from the uk when i first came here, sadly they have both passed away

does he chase cats to fight with them?

Are these the ones you leave in for the month without taking out?. If so, I have tried but failed to obtain anywhere and

I believe not imported. Plus prescriptions are another problem to obtain

How much do you pay in the uk?

The Thais are pretty good at tarnishing the name of Thailand without the help of the foreigners.

Better the Samsung 880 than a cheap Chinese fake. had my Samsung 2 years now without any problems, first phone i can say that about. a solid and dependable phone. bit deep and heavy. true the battery life is not the best, but you can buy a spare battery.

Does anyone know where to sign on for the 2000baht a day.......... and is there any virgins thrown in as well?

Well whats the problem now? Its all under control, a police report has been made and they [the police] will investigate the incident.................. so snafu

In case anyone is trying to think around how 6000 assault rifles could be transported to Bangkok, don't forget the recent fright about the 22 armoured personnel carriers returning from the south for maintenance [????]. Maybe they used them to transport the weapons.

Or maybe the apc were stolen as well!

I still use Acoustimas 3 speakers. Now 25 years old. Downgraded to use with my laptop but before in an outdoor restaurant. Bomb prooof and excellent for what they are. Come to life when you turn the power up. Obviously dont compare to my B&W's which sadly i am looking to sell.

Congratulations on buying your Bose speakers 5 years or so before they were even made.

Much better speakers to be had for much less money, pair any brand name small speakers with a small subwoofer.

Sorry, i bought them in 1987, and after all these years i have no doubt that there are better, cheaper speakers available. but i will still carry on using them. they have been ok for me.

I still use Acoustimas 3 speakers. Now 25 years old. Downgraded to use with my laptop but before in an outdoor restaurant. Bomb prooof and excellent for what they are. Come to life when you turn the power up. Obviously dont compare to my B&W's which sadly i am looking to sell.

How do you deal with the sleeplessness? I am listening to I-Pods and posting here into the small hours. Not so bad as I still feel better in the morning and I am reading a lot, but is there anything to 'help'?

i went into the local hospital and told them i was having trouble sleeping and feeling tired as a result. the doc . gave me xanax, and i have been taking 1/2 a 0.5mg tablet every night since, 9 or 10 months. a farang doctor friend tells me better to take these than not sleep and are not addictive. i don't know as i just keep taking them as i always have been a light sleeper. 5 bahts a tablet is cheap compared to the huge cost of the booze i got through

when i stopped drinking i started exercising and a bit of jogging and cycling, but the lack of sleep hindered the exercising, now i feel ok and can run a couple of kilometres or so around the local fitness park and none of the thais near my age are as fast as me and i can sprint through the traffic light changes at 45km p h on the bike and i got a few muscles to show now.

sometimes on a hot day i think it would be nice to have a cold beer, been there before, so i go buy a coke or an ice cream

thats some more days gone by pleasantly enough.

Nice posts Bagwan and Bonobo.

There is no black and white and as the OP posed the question about Thailand, then whatever happens elsewhere is not necessarily applicable

For sure there are many Thai ladies both spinsters or divorced who are well/comfortably placed and seek companionship and emotional care. For them money is not the most important part of any equation not are they looking for 'toyboys' or 'gigolos'

Love is open to interpretation, but Thai women can experience what they believe to be love and foreign men can believe in turn, that they are being loved by Thai women. If that were not true, then why the hel_l are all you guys married/living with Thai partners?

well somewhere along the line................

there must be money in this for the police............

more opportunity for shakedowns...........

Yes, Thailand is like a quicksand that draws you in. I have thought to myself from time to time 'what am I doing here". during the nearly 8 years I have lived here.

I am old, 70, but not finished, I have traveled to many places and done many things. I have had a full and what could be called a successful life.

But here I am, a stranger in a strange land which is not mine and where i don't belong, drifting along as if in a dream. Sometimes i ask myself if I am indeed in a dream or is this reality. It is reality, although sometimes it's like being Alice on her journey through the looking glass.

I dont feel uneasy now about not achieving or succeeding, or about being poor, as i managed to lose most of my assets. I know who I am am and where I am and I just make the most of it.

Life is for living and for us foreigners if we have the where with all or the desire, there is always something for us in Thailand. We are privileged to be here. Take every day as it comes, make what you will of it, its a bonus.

I look forward to being back in the South again soon.