elephantspike

I'm a resident of the USA, and that is also where my site is hosted and served from, so I'm just running it as usual. Folks inside Thailand just need to do what the Chinese have been doing for years; connect through a proxy server. I have one poster in Thailand who reports no block when connecting through ADSL.

In the meantime, I have re-opened the old ezboard for posting as well.

There are other boards, but you are not  allowed to mention them on here.

However, i am sure a nice person has already sent you a helpful PM on the matter.

I wish someone would let me in on the loop!

Just for the record, I have no problems with people posting links to this and other useful sites.....

you know where

Posted on another website's forum:

A farang neighbor of mine had his stay in paradise abruptly ended a while back when a bus driver high on something hit him in traffic. The guy had left explicit written instructions that he was to be cremated here in Pattaya and his ashes scattered in the Gulf,all at the minimum cost available. But through a process no one seems to be able to trace, the body ended up being flown back to Germany for burial, with a considerable bill for various expenses and air freight, which got taken from his bank account. His Thai lady friend, to whom he was not married, had no apparent legal or practical way to stop it.

I would like the same disposition of my remains by cremation and scattering of ashes, and have so instructed my Thai companion and friends. My Thai will also provides for cremation, but wills take days and weeks to process. And none of my friends and acquaintances here has any legal relations to me and, like that dead neighbor's girl friend, might be helpless to stop the wheels of thai bureaucracy.

Question: how does a farang expat who may die suddenly and without warning, still arrange to be cremated and dispersed here at minimal cost, with some assurances that his wishes will be expeditiously effected upon his death ?

Any ideas here?

chang yet : a vulgar Thai idiom. literal meaning, to get, um, you know, like horizontal with an elephant. It is used to describe some one who is excesively promiscuous.

Has anyone tried Beer Chang yet?

Get it? Chang yet!

Latest Update. Ikobo sent me (through this board) this e-mail:

Dear Customer,

I am a representative of iKobo, Inc. This is in regards to your post. I

apologize for your case being closed without a response. As for your concern,

all of our legitimate concerns from customers are being addressed and we are

doing our best at providing them with support. We are also working on any issues

brought up by the customers. If you still have any questions or concerns, please

feel free to contact us.

Thank you for choosing iKobo.

Hi wcr,

Actually, Hedda is registered and has made a few posts, but only a few so far. I'm hoping we'll get some happy young fags to join the mix eventually.

Hi, guys

As some of you may be aware, the very popular pattayagay message board is now on inactive status. Many of the posters there have joined the reopened Sawatdee Forums. Have a look.

By the way, We have a link to Thaivisa on our main page, and many posts refer here for factual information about Thailand.

Froggy,

You paid for your double-entry Thailand visa, right?

The $30 is for the Laos visa.

I think Malaysian visas are cheaper, but there's big trouble down there now.

Unbiasedbob;

As of the last time I crossed the Thai-Laos border, about a year ago, The Friendship Bridge was the only point on that border where you could apply for the visa on arrival.

Theres lots of German restaraunts in Pattaya and Phuket. If you have any money to invest, perhaps being a co-owner is your best bet.

You don't have to stay any length of time, but Vientienne is charming and quite safe. The Laotion border is the safest one now. Your wife can get a 3 day border pass for 100 baht as long as she doesn't leave Vientienne province. You will need to pay $30 USD (Has to be in US currency) to get a 30 day visa. Also you should bring cash in either USD or Thai baht for spending. The Laotian currency, the kip, is unpractical (ie; you need a suitcase full of it for a night on the town!) and there are no ATMs. It can get confusing, though, as whichever of the 3 currencies you use, you are likely to get your change in any combination of all 3.

I reccomend taking State Railway Thailand to Nong Khai, then you can take a tuk-tuk or whatever to the immigration place on the bridge, then a bus into Vientienne town, which is actually abou 10 or 15 miles up-river.

One thing I loved about Vientienne was the widespred availability of fresh baked baguettes!

Hi bigchang.

I'm a chef in the USA, and my first trip to Thailand a few years ago I was hired as executive chef to develop the menu for an American steak house in Bangkok. I entered on a 30 day tourist stamp, intending to stay for less than a month, but decided to try to stay longer. I answered an ad in the Bangkok Post seeking American chefs. They sent me to the Thai consolate in Penang, Malaysia with a letter stating thier wish to hire me, and I returned with a non-immigrant B visa. That's the kind of visa you need to apply for a work permit.

My salary was about 30,000 baht a month. I don't think many chefs in Thailand make much more than this, unless they are Executive chef at a big upscale hotel. Hope this helps.

OK, this is the response I got from Ikobo customer servce (in its entirety):

Case Closed- Case Closed Internally

Oh, well now that it's resolved I guess I'll put my links back up.....

Not!

I've used Ikobo to send money to Thailand several times. It worked fine for me, but I haven't used it recently, so I'm thinking they may simply be expieriencing "growing pains" ie; they have more customers than they can handle with the staff and skills that they have. That's what I'm assuming for now, that it's a system glitch, rather than that it's an intentional scam.

I had been happy enough with Ikobo that I reccomended it on some message boards, and even had an affiliate account with referal links on my website, www.elephantspike.com.

I've just removed the Ikobo links from my site untill I'm satisfied that this problem is resolved. I don't want to be affiliated in any way with a company that is shortchanging anyone, intentionally or not, or one that does not promptly act to resolve such a serious problem. Here's a note I just sent to Ikobo's customer support:

Hi,

I came accross this thread on the thaivisa message board:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8621&st=0

Apparently some people are claiming they had problems with your system and have lost money as a result. They also claim that customer service was unhelpful. I think some people are too quick to point the finger and accuse people of fraud just because it's on the internet, even when the problem could be an honest mistake or a glitch in the system. I believe this is probably the case here. I do hope that you are able to satisfactorily resolve these issues. In the meantime, however, I am afraid I will have to delete my Ikobo affilliate links from my website, www.angelfire.com/trek/elephantspike.

I will restore the links once I am certain that these cusomer service issues have been resolved.

I do intend on using your service myself as a customer to wire cash to my friend in Thailand, as it has always worked fine for me in the past.

Why do they always show a picture of them running over the pirate merchadise with a steam-roller? It gives me an idea for a clever (but somewhat sick) marketing gimmick:

Why not create a line of "pre-steam-rolled" merchandise such as Winnie the Pooh... flat as a pancake and burnt around the edges, or Mickey Mouse in the same condition?

Jeez, I forgot the jews, sorry,...

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things

Well, modern meteorology and biology seem to have subsequently rendered this point moot!

Um..... Isn't this exactly the sort of behavior that has been causing so much controversy lately in the Catholic Church?

IT DONT GO TO THE NEW AIRPORT DOES IT ?

Not yet, but I think one of the planned future lines will. It's a great improvement for now that it goes to Hualampong. Up untill now, The best public transport option to connect to the State Railway Thailand was to take the river taxi, which stopped several blocks away.

Last year I was on KoSamui for the Saturday of Songkran, and that seemed to be the climactic day there, and there was plenty of talcum Powder. The next day I was on Kho Sahn Rd in Bangkok, and that was the big day there. Interestingly, the powder that was being thrown there was not talcum, but some kind of corn starch solution. I wonder if corn starch will be banned as well this year?

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/latest/st...,243090,00.html?

Thai bombers escaped to M'sia: Thaksin

BANGKOK - The perpetrators of a weekend bomb attack in Thailand's Muslim south have slipped across the border to Malaysia due to red tape that delayed their arrest, Premier Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday.

Mr Thaksin said Thai authorities were working with Malaysian officials to track down the suspects who are believed to be hold dual citizenship and can easily cross border checkpoints, but did not disclose their identities.

'As a matter of fact, the bombers should have been arrested that night but there were many administrative delays including in seeking approval of arrest warrants, therefore on Monday they slipped into Malaysia,' he told reporters.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb planted on a motorcycle in a nightlife district of Sungai Kolok which injured 28 people including eight Malaysians, the latest in a wave of violence which erupted in January.

Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said earlier that the government would seek Malaysia's cooperation on the issue of dual-citizenship holders who are blamed for much of the unrest.

Southern Thailand has been rocked this year by an eruption of violence that has killed over 55 people, mainly government officials and security forces.

Mr Thaksin admitted on Tuesday that the escalating violence had left him 'extremely exhausted' but he vowed to press on until the problems were solved and to travel to the south shortly to intervene personally. -- AFP

These people are innocent. The so called porn they found is "Thai Guys" Magazine; Hardly porn at all.

Kasi: You are a congenital idiot. I pity you and all who are stupid enough to believe your lies.