sushi5734

Hi there just myself a 7-11 value smart card and not really sure how it works the instructions are in Thai (as you would expect) and my Thai isn't good enough yet to understand when I asked the staff at my local 7's.

I thought it might be like card where you accumulate points to then redeem but that doesn't seem to be the case I am assured that they are really good but just don't know how yet!!

Can anyone help?

^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Samsung model number???

cheers.

LA40A450 26990 baht on net today.

http://www.gun.in.th/

Mali,

Thats a totally different TV to mine, I got the LA40A550 Full HD model with 1080 x 1920 resolution and 30,000:1 contrast ration, instead of the normal HD 1,366 x 768 resolution and 10,000:1 contrast ratio - still they have my tv at 29990 not a bad deal but you don't get the 17000 baht home cinema with it. The only reason I went for the Full HD is that I have my xbox 360 hooked up to it and will also be using it as a PC monitor!!

Was at Tescos the other day they still have it on at 36990 for both

Seems like you got a good deal then mate good on ya, I think the price of the free Home Theatre at 17,000 was excessive, free I know but you can buy Sony's for 10,000 & as they say nothing in life is every free in your case 7,000 so a saving of course.

Enjoy

I'm sure they jacked up the price a bit to make the offer look good hehe, but its definitely worth it as the price for the whole package is awesome. The home theatre is a HT-TZ215T and I've been very impressed with it the full hd upscaling is spot on - my mate has a sony system that cost him 18000 and its not quite as good as his but its not a millions miles off :]

One word of caution though I ended up having to send the TV back after a few days as it developed a wierd horizontal line in the middle of the screen, but they came and took the old one away and delivered a brand new one pretty quickly so all good in the end.

I'd spent aged looking around and no one else even came close to them for a similar spec the cheapest 40" full hd was a sony and that was 37000 just for the tv very nice and I love my sony tv's but tbh I actually prefer the samsung TV, they have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years.

I'm just waiting for cheap Blu Ray player now and a wider selection of copied blu ray disks only one hundred pounds for a player in the UK now but they're still pretty pricy in Thailand :[

^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Samsung model number???

cheers.

LA40A450 26990 baht on net today.

http://www.gun.in.th/

Mali,

Thats a totally different TV to mine, I got the LA40A550 Full HD model with 1080 x 1920 resolution and 30,000:1 contrast ration, instead of the normal HD 1,366 x 768 resolution and 10,000:1 contrast ratio - still they have my tv at 29990 not a bad deal but you don't get the 17000 baht home cinema with it. The only reason I went for the Full HD is that I have my xbox 360 hooked up to it and will also be using it as a PC monitor!!

Was at Tescos the other day they still have it on at 36990 for both

If you are looking to meet the girl of your dreams in the girly bars bar of Pattaya, bangkok and Phuket, then to be quite frank you are deluded!!!!! Yep I am sure that once in a blue moon some guy finds his soulmate in a bar on Soi Cowboy but come on lets face it its not very likely is it?!

There are so many normal Thai girls out there who you can have a normal realtionship with, Many Thai women do see Farang guys as an attractive prospect for the following very generalised reasons;

• Alot of Thai guys treat women like sh!t with mistress's, domestic violence, lazy etc. (so do some farangs!!)
  
• They find various farang physical features more attractive nose, eyes, whiter skin etc.
  
• Financial stability + better lifestyle.
  
• Many hard working Thai women will end up with a leech of a boyfreind.
  
• Most farangs don't expect them to be a live in slave.
  
• Half thai, half farang people (Luk Krung Thai?) are seen as very attractive by Thai's (look how many TV stars pop stars are half thai!!!!!) so the prospect of a Luk Krung baby at some point in the future is very very desirable.
  
• Farangs are generally more outgoing and confident.
  
• Farangs are generally more ambitious.
  

But that doesn't mean that if you're 50-60 years old and carrying a few extra pounds that you're then you're going to be able to pull a stunning supermodel in her early 20's!!! You get to play a division or two higher than you might do back home but not defy the laws of nature!!!!

It is much harder to find and date a normal Thai girl and don't expect any sex for quite some time!! in fact you will more than likly have a chapperone for a month or two!! but most guys have no patience or are too lazy to put the effort in and end up with someone who sees them as nothing more than a walking wallet!

Don't get me wrong plenty of guys who go out with normal girls get stung, because many Thai people see a farang and get big $$ signs in thier eyes (particulary the family....whole new topic lol) but if you go find someone who is educated, hard working, financially independant then you are better placed to avoid being fleeced by a gold digger!! I wouldn't even consider going out with a girl thats driven through Pattaya let alone worked as a bar girl there!!

You need to ask yourself the following as if this were a girl back home you were thinking about starting a relationship with;

• would you be happy with her sleeping with or having slept with alot of other guys?
  
• would you expect to be sending her money every month?
  
• would you expect her to tell you she loves you within a few hours?!!!
  
• Is she too lazy to work and you are just a means of financial support?
  
• Spend more time at the mall buying her shoes than in each other arms?!!!
  

Jesus man if any girl asks you for an ATM card for her monthly allowance then <deleted> run a million miles!!!

At the end of the day these girls are paid for sex and have had more hanging meat than a butchers shop window, if you are happy with that then fine, fill yer boots but please don't be surprised when you find out that she's got several other guys on the go!! Just accept it for what it is......... money for sex and companionship! These girls will tell you everything you want to here and they are well versed in deceiving farangs. The Thai guys don't seem to have a problem accepting this and a large proportion of the the guys will have a kik (girl on the side) at some Kareoke or Coyote bar. If you want to have a bar girl as your regular Friday night thing or something like that then you shouldn't have to many problems, you just make it clear from the start and you should have no problems, she will probably still say she loves you after 5 mins!!

If the bar girl scene if your thing then go for it, have a good laugh with the girls but don't go looking for love.......just accept it for what is!!

A fool and his money soon part company!!

Anyone got any ideas of how much they buy the 16gb 3G iphone for in MBK? I'm going to sell mine as I get too worried about losing it when I'm out having a few beers

Mine is a UK model which I got just before I left the UK and I got it unlocked over here. Its on AIS jail broken and the have a little chip that goes over the sim card all seems to work fine with me although the sat nav is okayish, as the coverage isn't brilliant in some places but then again its not brilliant in the UK either.

I pay 119 baht a month for 30 hours internet which is pretty good I tried true mobile and they were a bit crap IMHO

Now the only problem I have is how to stop my missus watching hours of Thai soaps on it!!!!

Can't you use the picture in picture function to give her a little real estate on the big screen?

You can only get sound on one of the pics at a time but not a bad idea

I think it might be worth investing in a pair of pliers to snip the aerial cable with the standard of Thai TV!!

I would get UBC but its bloody pricey and I suspect that there would be even more channels of Soaps to choose from

Well I guess KSR would be just another road near the University that we would have never heard of if they weren't around, so despite the occasional annoyance I'd rather have them around - although I reserve the right to tut disapprovingly the next time I see one with p!ss dreads and a trust fund

Its the lager louts that I hate as they bring the worst aspects of western behaviour over here, its the same story in Bali with p!ssed up aussies getting into bother there. I didn't come 6000 miles to find another Benidorm!!

The hippy backpackers are pretty harmless, I occasionaly find mildy irritating but more often than not they are very amusing to watch, they all come over here to 'find themselves' and express themselves as an individual but they all come out of KSR in the same uniform

everyone wants to be unique, not many want to be different!!

Thankfully I live far aware enough from the tourist scene to not be that bothered by them, but if I lived on Koh PanNgan or somewhere like that, I would probably feel different

I don't really dislike backpackers as such, but I think its fair to say they have evolved over the years, now its seems that many fall into two groups;

• Lager louts mascarading as backpackers getting absolutley w@nkered leaving a trail of vomit and piss everywhere they go and quite a few getting into fights which ruins the whole thing for me. It seems that the islands have become an alternative to Ibiza or Ayanapa. Just the kind of people I came over here to avoid. The only time I have ever seen trouble in Thailand has involved a drunken farang.
  

• Tarquin or Lucinda types on a gap year funded by mummy and daddy, they walk onto KSR and undergo a tranformation into the backpacker uniform, fisherman pants, chang vest, tribal tatoo, piss hair dreads. They then spend the next 6 months talking about how poor they are and how in touch they are with the tribal folk.........P!ss off!!
  

Yes they are stereotypes but stereotypes don't come from thin air!

Although more expensive thought I'd mention the deal I got at Tesco Lotus just before xmas in case anyone was on the look out for a flat panel tv and home cinema.

A 40" Full HD Samsung LCD TV - fantastic picture, looks really cool, has loads of cool features - picture in picture etc.

A Samsung DVD 5.1 home cinema system, the front and surround speakers are pretty big as is the centre and subwoofer (I think its about 800 watts so way more than I need) has full HD upscaling, so your normal DVD's look very good as well. Its got a radio tuner, USB slot for your ipod or memory stick.

it was 17,000 baht on its own but it came free with the tv!!

so I paid 37,000 Baht for the full set up which is really good - I spent a good month or so checking out all of the local stores and that was the best I found in fact no one else even came close to it even for a non full hd tv and home cinema combo. I've got my xbox 360 hooked up to it and I am now in danger of never seeing sunlight again.

Now the only problem I have is how to stop my missus watching hours of Thai soaps on it!!!!

How can you 'start work' on a Non Imm 'O' .... you obviously don't have a work permit ..... be careful!

I'm not working so not really a problem but I'm giving some thought to teaching and apparently I can apply for a work permit on that visa (accoirding to an offical at the local immigration office) and at that point I'll be able go to my local office.

I may be wrong as I didn't really look into it that thoroughly as I'm happy to be a lazy bum for a little bit longer

Got my visa sorted out yesterday many thanks for the help. Saved myself about a 1000 baht doing on my own instead on using a visa run service despite the best attempts of the 'officials' trying to scam me out of more money and trying to purseud me to buy cheap cartons of cigarettes!!

I paid the the 1000 baht visa fee (fair enough) was then told they would get my visa stamped for 400 baht or I could go to the get and wait for ages and pay 200 baht, I opted to go to the gate myself and there was no queue at all I ended up paying 200 baht, although I'm not sure I had to pay that!!!

Anyone know what fees you actually have to pay and what is a scam?

I am considering getting an e-visa next time via the website does anyone have any experience of this?

Also why they hel_l can't they pay someone a couple of hundred baht to clean the river at the border or is it littered with landmines as well as plastic cartons?!! not a great advert for either country!

Well lets hope the debt is sold to a thai credit recovery agent and the lad is banged up for theft, then deported.

Its not theft its a bad debt you might have strong opinions on paying back what you owe and I totally understand that, but its just not theft or any other criminal offence for that matter its just bad debt!!

So it's ok to take say £10K from a bank but not pay it back but not ok to rob the said establishment. Theft is THEFT. Full stop.

Its not theft, it is a civil matter hence the reason why debts are pursued through the civil courts, thats not an opinion its just a fact I base that on spending my entire career in the UK criminal justice system..........not in the dock you understand!!

Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968.

A person is guilty of theft if: he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

People may have strong opinions on people taking out loans and not repaying them but it is not in any way a criminal offence.....if you feel that strongly and want to make a criminal offence then get yourself elected!!

There is no way any bank or debt company is going to chase you all the way to thailand for 6k so don't worry about it affecting your visa.

And a loan to a mate is very differen to a bank loan in my opinion I doubt your mate is going to charge you interest!!

The reason the whole credit system is screwed it that too many unscrupulous companies lent money to people who couldn't afford to pay it back, becasue these companies are run by greedy scumbags with no morals!!

The financial services industry has over the last 10 years or increasingly targeted the poor uneducated people in society offering them the easy way to get a new Sofa, LCD TV or car that they would have never been able to afford, many are unable to resist the temptation and most fail to realise exactly how much they will end up paying back. Its very easy to say well don't get the tv car etc. but we are continually bombarded with images of this luxury lifestyle we are all supposed to aspire to and when some people are offered what seems at the time the easy option many take it.

They are charged ridiculous rates of APR because they are a high credit risk and of course when they fall behind they are charged outrageous 'admin' fees for a computer generated letters - a licence to print money!! These people are usually genuinly frightened by these companies phoning making threats that they have no power to carry out.

It sickens me that these people are allowed to continue with little regulation and monitoring, if money was lent responsibly then fewer people would fall into arrears.

Yes you can get your 90 days done at the Korat office..mon-fri.........It's quite a way out of the city centre.

No he cannot. He has to leave the country.

I know people that have a work permit teachers etc. can get it done there and it would be great if I could get it done in Korat but its no biggie if not, after all its only once every 3 months

Hi there I have a Non Immigrant cat 'O' visa and was planning on doing a visa run shortly and I was just wondering whether or not the border is open at the weekends? and I presume I can just walk across and back again? i.e. no need for an overnight say

Also was wondering if I can renew my visa at my local immigration office in Korat?

oh and also what the opening times seen some people on the net say 5pm other say 8pm

many thanks

The border will be open weekends.

Just enter and return to get another 90 days. If your Non O Visa is Multi Entry.

You cannot renew a Visa. You go to a Thai Consulate and apply for another one.

Korat can give you a 12 month extension if you qualify. You do not say what your Non O Visa is for.

Cheers for that I just didn't fancy turning up to find a locked gate

sorry I should have been clearer I meant can a go to the korat office and get my 90 day stamp? my visa is for visiting family and friends, I understand that I can check in at my local office if I start working but wondering if I could do with my visa just to save myself the journey to the border.

Well lets hope the debt is sold to a thai credit recovery agent and the lad is banged up for theft, then deported.

Its not theft its a bad debt you might have strong opinions on paying back what you owe and I totally understand that, but its just not theft or any other criminal offence for that matter its just bad debt!!

If you have a court order date then maybe the thai government could revoke your visa or refuse renewal based on an outstanding court order.That will give you a criminal record if you dont appear at the court on the date specified.

I am talking exclusively about UK law here, but if a case goes to a civil court hearing for a civil debt then it is not a criminal matter....end of story

A UK civil court judge would have to issue a bench warrant and goes through the extradition process for 6k, which lets face it isn't going to happen!! There is usually no requirment to attend hearings for civil debt hearings.

There are only certain debts that can result in being locked up - council tax being the main one!! and even that isn't going to cause you problems here.

Fraud is any deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual so for example if you declared that you earn 100k a year and actaully earn 10k and applying for a loan then that would constitute fraud - fraudulent conduct involves deception and dishonesty so not having he money to repay the loan isn't fraud. If you apply for the loan and do a runner and have no intention of paying it back then they would need to prove your intent at the time of applying for the loan (mens rea)

I'm not advocating that people stop paying loans after all you never know when you might need to return to the UK and your credit rating will be well and truely screwed as a 'gone away' record and a CCJ will be placed on the credit file making in pretty much impossible to get any form of loan for 6 years.

Hi there I have a Non Immigrant cat 'O' visa and was planning on doing a visa run shortly and I was just wondering whether or not the border is open at the weekends? and I presume I can just walk across and back again? i.e. no need for an overnight say

Also was wondering if I can renew my visa at my local immigration office in Korat?

oh and also what the opening times seen some people on the net say 5pm other say 8pm

many thanks

I have a worrying question which i hope someone can help clarify for me-

I have a long outstanding debt to a UK Bank, not big, but enough. The debt collecting agency got my number here and has now said that if i don't pay it will be passed to the courts in UK to get a court order to approach immigration here and request the cancellation of any visas i have to stay in Thailand. I work here on a non B. Is this really possible ? Needless to say, I am very worried about this!

I have to agree with the other comments, 6k overdraft 3 years ago. I presume no assets in the UK. These Debt colecting agencies always try and put the 'frighteners' on outstanding debts. The original bank in question would have already effectively written the debt off as far as their books are concerned. Remember, these agencies get a cut of what they retrieve.

As for affecting you over here, I find it extremely unlikely they would pursue a debt for 6k from some guy in Thailand with no assets in the UK, when they could spend their time getting cash off one of the millions of people in debt on credit cards/loans etc who are in the UK and working!

£6k is absolute peanuts in the big scheme of things. The only downside is that a CCJ will probably be registered at your last known UK address that the company has registered for you, wich means if you go back to UK will be difficult to get credit for next 6 years.

With regards to this, if it was me, I would tell them that I have no money, can't pay them and tell them they can do what they want!

I think they would rather go after the easy target; Gaz the plumber from Essex who has run up £50k on credit cards! Take a charge on his house and wait for him to get back on his feet and then get the money back. Not some bloke 6000 miles away!

I have worked in financial services for 20 years+ in debt colection, lending, mortgages etc and have seen threats like this many times!

If you want to be completely above board, do as others say, declare yourself bankrupt in the UK and job done......get a few more loans before you do it though!

spot on......the guys who work for these debt recovery call centres get either bonuses or commision when they get a debtor to repay the debt or adhere to a repayment plan so they will come out with all sorts of rubbish to scare you in repaying. Most of these guys are not experts and are more than happy to lie to get a repayment!!

You might find that the bank or the next debt company that the debt is sold onto wil offer you a settlement offer which could 50% off

As long as you have no assets to sieze in the UK and have no plans to go back and buy a house get a credit card then screw em

After all they only have your phone number right?!! even if they knew your address employer they woudn't be able to to jack

They can no longer chase the debt after 6 years and as far as I know that 6 years starts ticking from the date you last made a payment. After this time your credit record gets wiped clean.

I reckon the german fella who was deported must have been involved in some form of fraud or something like that, they would have to demonstrate that there was intent to dishonestly permenantly deprive the bank of the funds....thats a very long away from sorry I can't afford to pay.

I have no sympathy for these companies they feed off other peoples misfortune and misery.

A good freind of mine works for experian (massive credit reference agency in the UK and worldwide) and he used to work in a dept that used the following;

An individual gets behind on repayment for loan mortgage etc so his credit rating is lowered this department would then sell the details of the individual to "get a loan today" type companies who would then send out letter to that person offering a quick solution to all thier 'debt needs' in other words offering them another bigger loan at a higher rate of interest.

How do these people sleep at night?!