Tongdee

thanks guys.

i'm also looking at western union as an option to have money sent to me.

the fee seems reasonable (i think). on $5000 there is a $100 charge (2%).

my concern would be the exchange rate the western union would use.

note that this option (western union) would be used for receiving money from business ventures in canada and not for accessing money that is currently in my account.

does anyone have input on western union (i see plenty of thai girls using their services, lol)?

I purchased a western union money transfer of $1000 canadian from a western union outlet in Vancouver Canada to be picked up by my brother in Edmonton Canada a year ago the day before returning to Thailand.

The credit should have arrived instantly for pickup the next day. There was no indication that anything was amiss at the time of purchase. E-mailed the numbers to my brother for the pickup.

He told me that the bank said the numbers were no good. Sent them again. He was told the same thing by his bank. I was dealing with this from Thailand.

Western union in Thailand had zero access to the transaction & put me onto their regional Headquarters in China.

China couldnt do anything either after putting me on hold forever but did find me the number in Canada.

When I was finally able to get appropriate personage on the phone after bieng put on hold again multiple times they told me that they cancelled the transaction

and would not give me a reason for having done so.

I had arranged another method for getting this essential payment to my brother. But was now out $1000 canadian. Western union phone personel said theyd look into it & to call back in a week.

That done they told me they had cut me a cheque and wanted an address to mail this cheque to. Oh good not only would that take roughly 6 weeks

( if the delivery times of other mail I have received is anything to go by )& be questionable about delivery at all. That is not what I had purchased and a mailed check is incredibly much a pain to deal with.

I asked them to wire the money to me in Thailand as a wire money transfer is what I had Legally purchased Thier response was no cannot

cheque already made out decision made cannot be changed. I asked them to mail the cheque to one of thier offices in Chiang Rai. No cannot.

Me: mail it to

General delivery Chiang Rai main post office. No cannot need your address. Me: I am traveling around Thailand & surounding Countries I don't know where I will be next week much less next month.

Put your supervisor on the phone Was placed on hold until my battery died

If that is the kind of service you want by all means use Western Union

I still have a bundle of amex cheques in $100s I refuse to cash at the extorsionate rates the Thai banksters now charge.

ATMs here spit out Thai Baht from my Canadian bank as fast or faster than Canadian currency comes out of ATMs in canada...

If you have a positive balance on your Visa /Mastercard account I am told that is the cheapest way to transfer funds.

Your western approach, to media, reports, collation of information, reporting etc is for the most part I suggest alien here. There isnt the same level of media coverage, there isnt the same level of tabloid reporting and certainly isnt the level of effective and accurate law enforcement. (Nationwide). What happens etc in rural Thailand as to Coastal areas or main tourist areas/Cities are absolutely poles apart and any "overall" conclusion drawn, would be so far off for most of the provinces. (in my opinion).

Example: I have been here 10 years, amount of reported crime in my area = 0, amount of drug related crimes = 0, amount of violent crimes = 0

I could go on and on and its all zero., including Police presence = 0 Media = 0 its not because they dont happen, they are just dealt with locally and unless you or your family/friends are directly involved, you wont hear or know of it.

Any problems in most villages etc are handled by the village, in there own way, as they have done for many many years.

Good luck with your search, personally I think it will be pretty meaningless compared to actually living here. (IMHO)

The best source of information are the people who live here and there personal experiences and knowledge and that will vary widely too.

The physical location in the kingdom is only one factor in the dangers involved in "Tourism". There are a couple well known danger zones

If you get up at the crack of dawn, do not consume any illegal substances, do not consume alcohol to excess,

do not become involved with illegal activities (gambling, "prostitution"), or go anywhere with someone who claims to be able for any reason to get you a deal that is "To Good To Be True",

do pay your bills, do not rent a jet ski, Do not display "Bling". Smile. Do not raise your voice remain calm & in control of your emotions at all times.

and go alone or with a "frieind" (New Rule: i before & after e if you know anyone who has smoked pot) you have known for years before 21:30 to the place you will spend the night.

Leave the Kingdom when your finances become inadequate to support youir preferred lifestyle. Realize you are far smaller than the way it is

and don't try to change it or openly pass judgement on the society you are Visiting.

That should eliminate most "Problem Situations" and "Problem People" from "most" places in Thailand and for what it is worth wherever the xell you are from... ... ...

Maybe the Chinese tourist is guilty as charges, probably is but perhaps not....

All I can say, after reading all these adverse comments about the Chinese is that I would not step foot in Thailand if I was Chinese. Definitely considered the lowest of the low, by many racists.

Racists??????? It is the behavior not the race that offends others. Thai people are very polite most of the time. The chineese "tourists" are not.

In the que at immigration to speak to immigration officials, several chineese passport carrying people pushed their way in right to the front ahead of many patient

folung, & japaneese . The chineese were ignored & the polite immigration people served their customers in the order of their arrival. The toilet habits of the chineese

are utterly attrocious. Hotel staff note that while they do crap in the correct room they seldom know where in the room to do their thing.

Hotel rooms are left in what staff call sockaprock mak. Very dirty. As for the driving habits, it is difficult to drive a vehicle with the steering wheel on

the "wrong" side. I personally do not like people who are pushy & arrogant & cant follow proper toilet habits. If that makes me racist , THEN I AM RACIST...

I think the op dose not know much about thailand at all , some of the things are wright but I have seen first hand how western man get ripe of here and I am not a farlang ok I am from the west , farlang is a racist word .

Say WHAT??

farlung is a racist word???????????? sooooooo georgemandm has just lost all credibility with me for interpretation of anything outside his area of expertise (if any).

Whatever that may be. Politically correct gone wild...The word folung (the usual spelling , but I am not associated with the language police) is a descriptive term

that applies to people of european ethnic origins. There is no judgement included in the term aside from obvious genetics.

A rough parallel would be to call someone over six feet "tall" or calling a fat chick "A Fat Chick".

If you have a problem with the word "Folung" I would sugest you go back to wherever you came from and seek "counseling".

Come back when you have delt with previous "trauma". and can accept the comonly used descriptor Folung

Signed

A Folung... ... ...

Some of us already don't buy "MADE IN CHINA". Whether in my home country or in Thailand, I try to look at the label carefully. If it's made in China, I look for another product. That's not always possible, but I have had very, very bad luck with things made in China. Absolutely atrocious workmanship.

Didn't they say the same thing about "Made in Japan/Korea/Taiwan" back in the day? Shoot, some of the crap coming out of Italy ain't all that either, e.g. FIAT (Fix It Again Tony).

DO NOT knock FIATS. They have done wonders for the Italian soccer teams... ... ... Pushin the things back to Tony AGAIN, builds up powerful leg muscles... ... ...

there are about 300+ natural cancer threatments

even from sloan kettering there was one about B17

it has been shelved like many others & called quackery

before the AMA took over medicine, there was a choice of conventional doctors & natural healers

you know who started the AMA, the same that own the drug companies

clinical trials are made for drugs where the patent is about to expire and they change one little small thing, to get another patent to sell big bucks for the next 20 years ...

and in those trial, what the big pharma has to try to prove, is that it is just a slight % better than doing NOTHING AT ALL

more people die in the USA of CANCER THREATMENT, than off the cancer itself

are you a shareholder of one of the big one's?

more cancer, sure it has nothing to do with DIET, a healthy lifestyle, avoiding sugar, smoking, overeating, ... right ?

just take a pill, for your conscience, in stead of trying to live better and fill up with your cola & hamburgers ...

everybody has the right to chose what they want

most are still blinded that the good doctor is there to help you ... while they are there to fill their pockets ... you get a few minutes in a doctors office and then it is .. NEEEEXXTT

medicine = business

cancer = mega big business ... 50.000 - 150.000$ for a cancer THREATMENT, never a CURE

live max. 5 years more, but broke and die in pain of the chemo, radiation, surgery ....

even the 5 years is a big lie, as the statistics only take 3 months

never to late to get informed

only stupid people never change their mind

I agree completely with everything you said up to the last sentence. There are a lot of highly intelligent people who will never change

thieir ( i before & after e if you know anyone with alzenhieimers) minds even when presented with solid evidence that contrdicts thieir belieifs.

This is called cognitive dissonance.otherwise intelligent Religious people are prime examples. "Can't be 50,000 years old the earth was just created 6000 years ago."

So don't confuse them with facts as they have already made up thieir minds.

A lot more money to be made creating customers scared of dying than creating cures.

Amazing how many bogus clinics are able to operate here.

By here you mean Thailand???? That is an understatement of gigantic proportion. When is the last time you have heard of a western Doctor

asking a patient about what they eat???? And why Not? That is because they study what differences food makes to the health of people.

Any yet they are able to hang OUT A SHINGLE & PRACTICE?? How many people are killed in The USA or any other part of the western world

by "properly perscribed" legal medicines approved by the FDA, perscribed by a "Qualifyed physician"...Oh but they have studied for years passed examination..

Studied what??

The people that scream the loudest about having to pay taxes are also the ones that scream loudest about the lack of quality services that need the taxes for funding.

You cant have it both ways. The tax rates floated for 3, 4, 5, 6 million Baht homes seemed totally insignifigant for the amount of services expected... ... ...

Difficult to make strawberry jam out of horse shit!

AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhh. You are not a farmer apparently. Turn the earth where the strawberrys are to be grown, add well rotted horse manure in appropriate quantitys,

seed thus prepared strawberry fieilds (New rule: i before & after e if you know anyone older than 60), Water & weed as normal, harvest crop as it ripens.

Obtain Grandmas Strawberry Jam recipe, clean Mason Jars, Follow Grandmas recipe.

If that was difficult your parents did not do thieir job of raising you properly... ... ...

The two main groups that should be setting an example have been showing throughout Thai history that they have no morals so neither do the people. I am of course referring to the politicians and the monks who both show that "Money number one". Hey maybe that would be a good book title.

I believe your observation is focused on to small an area of humanity and that a more inclusive statement that does not discriminate would be:

The two main groups that should be setting an example,

have been showing throughout History that they have no morals

so neither do the people.

I am reffering, of course to (Nearly) all politicians and practicioners of all religions worldwide forever

showing that "Money number one".

So, what is a first story in the news, describing only what a girlfriend is "said" to have said is fact and we're ready to kill the guy.

Not only that we're going to obsess on these "facts" for many pages until we want to kill each other, LOL.

Sensible post. Death sentence, life in prison, eye for an eye. Ban all Russians for the actions of a very few??? Every nation has at least a few questionable people.

Ban all Tourists from any country who exports a nut case??? There would be no tourist industry in Thailand... ... ...

We are rather sure someone has died with a bashed in head. We are sure there is a "suspect"

. I am sure This unfortunate event happened in a Soverign nation where the laws of the nation apply regardless of where they come from.

The wheels of the justice system, such as they are, will move in the way they do, what evidence there is must be examined in a court of law.

Only then can any sentence be pronounced by a judge.

As for all the keyboard warriors..... passing judgement on the basis of what????

I can pass no judgement on them as

1) I am not a Judge

2) I haven't seen both sides of anything

3) ... ... ...

4) ,,, ,,, ,,,

5)??? ??? ???

6) I may have misspelt a word somewhere leading to a crusade by the language police

I doubt this country would go to hell if the people decide to get rid of the orange mobsters- all of them.

However, if the majority is willing to tolerate all the wrongdoing of freaks hiding behind the status of their robes- I'm not so sure.

Calling them collectively mobsters All of them is outright untruthful, ridiculous, totally against the Thai way of life &

not gonna happen. Holding the perps to a much higher standard of responsibility,

and a much more severe penalty, would be a reasonable & likely alteration of the way of life here.

Many changes are gonna be happening in the coming decade regarding rights & responsibilities.

The changes will be welcomed by the vast majority of Thai people, and many of the expats here.

The usual bunch on winers & complainers who can't vote on anything anyhow will be

Suprise!!!!! wineing and complaining.

Moved to DIY Housing forum.

Great concept, nice pictures (computer drawings really), prestressed and post stressed are both sound from an engineering viewpoint,

The company??? do your own research on quality control ( if there is a fail here on any one component??? ???

anything 10 baht short of the cost of a properly engineered spec. & you could have an expensive ring of ruble around yer site.

Live in Canada and find a Canadian GF/wife?

Rediculous and impossible. After any Thai wife or girlfriend nearly impossible to find a Canadian women that does ow ji geng. They become very boring. There is nothing a Canadian woman has to offer (unless she has a lot of money & a heart condition).

No doubt if this true, the drivers will go to the lock-up........but...what about the big men behind this........this is the stuff the US wants to see progress all the way..........let's see what happens......but we have our thoughts that the usual will prevail.

The US wants????? Regarding human rights???? That would be hilarious if it wasn't so preverted... How about the US explaining why they have such a large % of their population in Prison & for what??? {none of the Banksters are in prison altho they should be first stripped of their ill gotten wealth then jailed} ( until I see evidence to the contrary they are in prison so the rich people that run the prison sector of the economy can rake in more profits ). Human rights ???? Oh you mean the right of Huge corporations to patent seeds for food that can survive chemical poisoning, followed up by chemically poisoning the soil & waterways killing off foods that the huge corporations don't have patents on. so that they will own the food supply. And exporting this Evil monopolistic system outside their own borders. The u.s. should clean up their own house before they start telling other countries what to do & how to do it,,On the upside. I do prefer Timberwolf bandsaw blades from the u.s. over the blades from either of the 2 Chinas...

There is very little prostitution in thailand.The thai law says.If a girl goes with you from a bar etc.She is the same as a tour guide.You are paying her to take care of you.Yes,we all know they are prostitutes..But because prostitution is against the law.Thailand introduced this loop hole.Again.money number one.So who decides that he or she is a prostitute.Easy,The ones who dont pay are prostitutes.This governments idea is ,Certain places,they want to change the image.All the rest will stay the same as before.

Prostitutes... Give me a break. Tell me now just roughly what % of dentists wives,

in your country, would hang with hubby if his finances

were to be immediately reduced to that of a Esarn rice farmer???

Now: replace the word dentists in the previous sentence with the name of all other occupations,

create a spreadsheet with occupation, % of wives still there after 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 years

go through the columbs and average.

Tell me now using this tool

AND NOT

some lawyerese retorical twist on truth,

what percentage of these people are engaged in prostitution?????

In wherever you are from there are long time "partners",

(I am trying to be inclusive of those whose "preferences" are unlike my own)

shortime partners, really long time partners, and really shorttime partners.

Much like other forms of accomodation. You can rent a room for a shower and an hour

You can rent a room for a night, or a month, or a year/5.

You can rent a car for the day & if you like it take out a long term lease...

Why have nuclear weapons if we aren't going to use them?

Turn that whole region into a sheet of glass.

The unfortunate "Collateral Damage" that would cause, massive amounts of radiation everywhere on planet Earth would make the planet unlivable by most forms of life we all love.

Any use of the nuclear option, now that nukes are no longer just possesed by a "couple of itchy fingers" could and likely would result in "M A D". All the mildly Psycho rulers would insist

on enforcing "THEIR VISION" by unleashing their own arsonel.

Chiropractors can often help too but very hard to find a good one in Bangkok. I ended up getting back surgery from Dr. Wicharn (Chula, BNH and BCH) who was excellent.

Hard to find a good Chiropracter in Bangkok. If you ask enough cab drivers one just "Might" know where to find Wat Po. Have a shower before you go, Dress politely and get the best theraputic massage you will have in your lifetime. Their school, towards the river is less busy, equally good. An hour is good 2 hours with oil indescribeable. Looking for a chiropracter in Bangkok--- About like bringing a big mac to a banquet... ... ...

I believe in freedom of speech, but I'm not going to walk up to a MMA champ, especially one already pissed off, and say, Your mom sure %$*@ me good last night.

The editor is known to have said "I would rather die standing on my feet then kneeling." This is courage, not stupidity. This is conviction, not ignorance. A great many people identify with this conviction.

.

Well, now, you're talking oranges to my apples. I never said anything about stupidity, and I never would condone kneeling. Those are your words.

I was talking about discretion.

But respect comes into play, too. I don't agree with other people's religions, but I never mock them. Never. I respect their right to believe what they want to believe, just as your editor demanded respect for his free speech. Except my respect doesn't get people killed.

The man who died standing up for what he believed in, he took a number of innocents with him. They were minding their own business in a grocery store. And he did it without asking them if that was okay with them, and their children, and other loved ones.

I call that irresponsible and unloving.

It also says a lot about the people at the magazine, that they chose to put on their cover that Mohammed forgives them, rather than "Charlie Hebdo" forgives the killers.

The man standing up did not take any innocents with him.

Easily angered Psychopaths with an imaginary superhero from a longer cartoon book

a cartoon book "In Print" (that has a legal right to be printed & shared),

who were looking for an excuse to murder people they wanted to murder,

Murdered innocent people that read a different cartoon book ( that also has a legal right to exist).

felt they had now an adequate excuse and murdered innocents

I will not be buying a copy .

I will buy 10 ... ... ...

If we lay down for these lunatics what is left? A world that is run by Islamic extremism?

One approach that would make the world a safer place for everyone would be to Run the cartoons up some flagpoles & see who salutes...

New legislation regarding terrorism vandalism. "Bait" the Radicals into "Unescapable Traps", cameras running, armour in place...

Let the rule of Law (where it is not just a sham) do its thing.

The radicals would respond in their own way... ... ...

The "Moderates" ( if any really exist) would mumble at most and go back to work, family etc.

After several run throughs of variations on this theme a large ##### of the more radical psychos would be off the streets.

The Moderates would be unaffected... ... ...

He does have a point, although they have a slightly less diplomatic approach to solving the problem.

Slightly less diplomatic but highly effective. Similar to the way they handle Piracy v.s. diplomatic aproach used by the touchy feely apologists

Canadian navy detaining Pirates off Somalia

Their guns & rocket launchers are confiscated, their boats engines are repaired, they are feuled up,

they receive medicine, and each get their own full coffee pots with cream, sugar and a dozen donuts.

exchange e-mail adresses with the crew. Sure I can get you a job at the Ottawa airport Apoo...

The party goes on... ... ...

Russian navy spots what appear to be Pirates on the horizon

Survivers of the first shot who can swim .....swim until ... ... ...

The party goes on for the Russians & those aboard the freighters the pirates were stalking... ... ...

The Russians & Chineese would be my first and second on the prefered subcontractor list for this job.

Shortened task description with no conditions "Eliminate Problem" Payment on completion... ... ...

I am found of '70 and '80 Benz and i think TH is a good country to buy one.

The main problem on these cars is the rust and it doesn't exist in Thailand. They also seem to be very well looked after.

I am in the process of buying a w201, aka 190,the baby Benz manufactured between 1982 and 1993.

I went to see about 10 in BKK and was very surprised with the overall condition and especially the body condition! No rust at all, no dents or scratches.

Often resprayed too...

In Europe those cars are disregarded and very often very dead bodywise. I think the Benz prestige is very strong here and that is why the old Benz are still good,

Everyday i look on OLX and about 30 percent of the old benz are fitted with 1JZ Toyota engines, the Stuttgart engines are not know to be the weak part of the car...

I know they like to have them run on LPG but apart from that does anyone has an idea why this swap is so popular in TH?

The 1JZ is powerful totaly reliable & the parts aren't expensive or difficult to get. I drive a 92 190E all bender on benzine. 1.8 litre 4 speed I bought it in a neglected state.

The oil was tar. Zero maintanence for years. Cap, rotor, plugs, wires,(it should not have run at all on these) injectors, Idle stabilizer, Vacume leaks required parts

2 oil changes (with flush )in the first 200 kilometers & again 4000 later. Improved performance,

Gas mileage etc. New rear muffler ah Mercedes style quiet. Rides nice the handling amazes me. Parts are a little pricey unless you have a "Good mechanic". They are not hard to find

but should know these cars. Easier to find Toyota mechanics... ... ... Would I buy another one if this one walked away??? Without hesitation... ... ... The most hastle with these cars is with

old rotted or mice eaten wiring. Hastle cause its on again off again, and can take a lot of time searching the fault(s).

There doesnt seem to be any shortage of these to choose from, & I believe they are safer than most alternatives. I couldn't afford to drive an old Bender in Canada due to the cost of repairs

Here the parts prices are made up for the reasonable cost of labour.

Give it a bit of time. I take around a month to acclimatize usually. Drink lots of water, take showers twice or three times a day.

Thailand is no place for two day pants. The inside out thing doesn't work.

Lose the socks. Crocs over socks is a no no.

Spend December January & February in Ft Mcmurray Alberta In Canada some year soon.

If you ever feel uncomfortable with the heat reminise those long cold months.

The heat will stop bothering you immediately... ... ...

Lazada has a bunch of guitars for sale, they will deliver to your house

I dont know how descent their stock is, I am not familiar with any of the brand names I see there except Yamaha, but it might worth taking a look

With yamaha guitars, as long as you don't get scammed, there are no bad guitars. Even their cheapest are playable. Their pricier models are really decent. Delivered to the house sounds convient.