jerrybeirne

do they still take $10 at the border, or is 500 baht only now? anyone know?

As far as I have heard, Room by Room is a ligit honest company...

i used room by room's sevices when i rented in hau hin a couple of years ago., and would reccomend them. they had a good selection of properties to show me. monika and bee acted in a very proffesional manner and were most helpful.

they are ligit, no problem getting deposits back etc.

check out their website, enjoy hau hin.

came out of the movies at 5pm in kad san kaew. everything was closed down and the building was being evacuated. could not find out why.

a falang couple on a motorbike stopped and told me the same thing happened at airport plaza.

a mate just called me and said there is trouble of some sort at the night market also maybe a curfew (unconfirmed)

just spoke to a mate of mine who lives up that way. when you come out of immigration on the thai side, there is a mini bus office where the tuk tuks are. busses leave at 10, 12, 2 etc. fare 240 bht, duration 4-6 hours. it does go around the houses a bit!

happy travels, jerry.

the bus company is called the "green bus", it has first class and v.i.p seats on the same bus, both very comfy. departs chiang mai arcade 8am, arrives mae sai 12.30. you can return at either 1500 or 1600.

as previously mentioned,get your tickets in advance from booth in arcade bus station as it is usually full. red song thauw to the border for 15 baht.

if you plan to pay 10$ u.s. rather than 300bht on entering burma, make sure the

note(s) are in immaculate condition. they would not accept mine as it had a small ink mark on it.

happy travels!

khun jerry.

have you tried the lower level of central, huay kaew rd? there is a passport photo place towards the back, near all the mobile phone outlets. i dont know what backgrounds they do though.

i did my visa run to mae sai a couple of days ago. the burmese immigration officer would not accept what i thought was a crispy, good as new $50 bill. he was quite prepared to give me $40 change but on inspection of my bill found a red ink frank mark, no bigger than a match head, on the back of the note.

i got the dollar bills from an atm in seam reap three months ago and they all have the same marking.

so i had to pay 500bht instead, no big deal.

check that your greenbacks are in A1 condition before going to burma.

i bought my road bike in a padded bike bag, though a used box from your local cycle shop should suffice. do all the usual prep, taking pedals off etc.

i booked my flight through westeast travel 0844 815 8899, as they are an agent i got 30k baggage allowance (inststead of 20) with thai airways, and at cheaper price than thai's own website. i reccomend them, i have used them a few times.

when i checked in at lhr, my bike was taken as special baggage, when i arrived at chiang mai it was first item on the carousel,so it was n't underneath a ton of cases. i put it back together, all o.k.

hope it all works out, good luck,

jerry.

the escape bar, formerly the blackpool, up the soi from johns place, is run by steve from southampton and nuuch. very friendly hosts.

good food, thai and western. try the fish and chips, masaman and breakfasts. a nice place to have a drink, 60's and 70's music and sport on the t.v. check it out.

get your health insurance boys and girls. i've just payed out 90,000bht after shattering my elbow in a cycling accident. unfortunatly i was not insured. i was going through the motions of starting a new policy after letting my present one elapse. all my own fault i know.

its not over yet as i still have to pay for physio etc.

im suprised at the number of long term residents i meet here who dont have any insurance.

for the price of a couple of singhas a day you can get reasonable cover.

up to you teelak!

i reccomend cacti bikes as well at 94/1 singharat rd, phone mr sak 0897579150.

the bikes are trek 3900,4300 and 4400. not more than a year old and in exellent mechanical condition. if you ask you will get a bag with a good mini pump, spare tubes and levers. at 350 bht a day (negotiable for longer periods) not the cheapest in town, but your getting a good reliable bit of kit. he also has maps and all sorts for sale as well.

you have to pay a deposit, $200 or similar amount and leave your passport.

i ended up buying the bike i was hiring.

happy cycling, say jerry sent you.

ok thanks. any more venues that u guys may know of?

there is a stamp shop/launderette about 100mtrs past the shell garage on huay kaew rd, it has an "A board" outside advertising stamps, collectables etc.

ok thanks. any more venues that u guys may know of?

Prasing post office issues first day covers as does the main post pffice by the Three Kings statues.

probably also find some interesting old stuff down at the weekend flea market on Bumrungrat Rd (118/Doi Saket Rd) opposite the ice cream shop (I forget the name)

Cheers,

Pikey.

register at cmu, huay kaew rd entrance 1300-1700 sat. 0600-0800 sunday

visiting cambodia soon,flying into phnom penh from BKK.and wanting to exit via land route after visiting sihanoukville,anyone with any experience of this? will i get visa on arrival (OZ passport)without outward ticket? thanks for any advice.

i was there last week, visa online was not working. visa on arrival $20, 1 passport photo needed. sit at the front of the plane and be at the front of the queue. though it does not take long.

check out flamingo hotel, $25 a night, they pick you up from the airport.

i got a boat from sianoukville to thai border. where mini busses will take you to trat, for onward travel on big bus, or pattaya.

enjoy cambodia, lovelly people.

check out golden sands at $25, at sianoukville.

visiting cambodia soon,flying into phnom penh from BKK.and wanting to exit via land route after visiting sihanoukville,anyone with any experience of this? will i get visa on arrival (OZ passport)without outward ticket? thanks for any advice.

Looking for a place to stay either at or within walking distance to Nimmanhemin area for a week in CM.

Anyone stayed at above place before and can comment? Looks like 5 min walk to Nimmahemin from the map and their opening promotion price (50% discount) is attractive.

i'm staying at the dome at the moment and would reccomend it. modern, clean, everything works, half decent shower, friendly , helpful staff, exellent laundry service, loads of shops, restaurants on your doorstep and only a tuk tuk away from downtown.

sawsdee, i have recently bought my first laptop. it has a kaspesky anti virus installed in it. i checked the report and it informs me i have 47 trojans and 1 virus after only 10 days. how serious is this and what do i do about?

thanks in advance, jerry

thanks to those who helped with my non imm "o" query a couple of weeks ago. i did not realize that the visa was valid from day of issue, rather than first arrival in thailand.

im sure this has been asked before, but i cant find it.

why do certain embassies/consuls issue certain visas, why are n't they all the same?

sabai, sabai, i managed to answer my own question by reading others.

i can return to thailand, with "o" visa and a one way ticket.

dont tell me they have moved the goal posts since reading that yesterday!

Apologies if this has been covered on here but just had a quick scan through past postings and couldn't find anything on it. If there is and I've missed it, please point me toward it gently, don't flame me, I've had a very frustrating day.

Last Thursday I tried to withdraw some money from a total of 4 ATMs only to be refused. I knew my account was way in the black so I telephoned Nationwide UK, who told me that I'd tried to withdraw an amount too close to the 300 pound limit. I assume that I'd in fact gone over the limit. Anyway, he unblocked the account and I thought nothing more of it until today when my card was refused again.

I again phoned Nationwide only to be told the same thing, that if any withdrawals in Thailand was considered to be too close to the daily limit, even though below it, the card would be blocked. I explained to her the situation here now regarding the 150 baht charge imposed by the local banks and she said that yes, Nationwide knew about it, but there was nothing they could do. I said that surely what they were doing was illegal; that it was my money I was attempting to withdraw; that they had a 300 pounds a day limit therefore if I remained below that limit, even by a few pounds, that they should abide by it and; how much I was permitted to draw before the block was put on. She said she didn't know, it was up to security department. I asked to speak to her supervisor but the said that she was the supervisor but there was still nothing that could be done.

So the situation with Nationwide as far as I can gather is this: you can make withdrawals here, but you have to guess an amount, realising that if you guess wrong, your card will be blocked. The 300 pound a day limit is meaningless.

I was lucky because I had my Halifax card with me and drew 15000 baht from the machine that refused my Nationwide card. No problems.

What really annoys me is that Nationwide have never mentioned anything about this restriction and it only seems to have begun in the last few weeks. They just let me find out for myself when my card was refused after a long drive to the machine. Nationwide seems to be going to hel_l in a handcart rapidly, they used to be such a good building society. Has Geoffrey Howe always been chairman?

Has anyone else had the same problem?

i had the same problem a couple of weeks ago and no one could tell me why i was being blocked even though i had sufficient funds.

also had major problems with internet banking, it was blocked claiming i was putting in the wrong security info, you dont keep making mistakes.

i reregistered four times. two of the letters with new pass number,never arrived, the third was not accepted. finally back online now, though weary every time i sign on.

have now got a thai bank account so i will probably be closing nationwide unless their swift charges are good.

santander/abbey have a no fee card coming out soon, check their website.

sawasdee george, im jerry, age 57 with a u.k passport. im in thailand on a one year non immigrant 'o" visa multiple entry. this was first utilised when i entered the kingdom on 8th october 08. i am returning to u.k. on 15th july, which is when my current 90 days runs out, probably for about a month.

upon my return, if i once again i depart early october and return on 6th or 7th october am i guaranteed a further 90 days on arrival. making it a 15 month visa. has anyone ever been rejected on this.?

also, when the visa finally expires can i get a new one locally and if so where is advisable.

if i got a new one from hull while i was home, would they let my present visa run its course before utilising the new one?

i have read various other peoples question and answers on this in your forum, but cant quite answer my own question.

many thanks in advance for any advice and info,

chock dee krup,

jerry.

Hi,

Can anybody recommend the best ways to make multiple calls into the UK and a few other international destinations?

I've currently no land line. Who is the best? Best, not cheapest. Voice quality is important to me as they are business related calls.

Currently using tick dee for mobile calls. (which comes and goes)..............varies allot....

Skype: like they're next door sometimes but most of the time. I can hear them great, however, they either can't hear me at all!

Or I'm told I sound like a robot. Those used to Skype please comment.

They say "you're using it aren't you?"

I retort, "how do you know".

Answer: "you sound like a Robot!"

Thanks in advance

Smartsolution.

i like CAT card also, always a good line,from a mobile as well, 2baht a minute to u.k.land line, 7 to a mobile.

If you use 007, 008 or 009 (instead of 001) prefix from any landline or mobile phone in Thailand , you will pay about 7 Baht per minute for any call to the Uk, and similar costs to other countries.

Sorry, terra Nova, just noticed that you have told the Op this already.

Hello all, the wife is after a short break in June and wants a direct return flight from london to bangkok.

I've been on the net most of the morning and not getting very far. The prices still seem to be a bit high for this time of year.

Does anyuone out there know who i should be talking to to get a good deal. It might be ok if its june or july, just for a two week break to see the family.

It does really have to be direct though as she has trouble getting out of heathrow let alone changing in Dubai or Abu dabi.

I appreciate any help you might be able to give.

Sean.

i have used dialaflight for the last couple of years for various trips and found them very good. they deal with eva air, who are top notch in my opinion and i believe have some special deals for june and july. though i could not find them this morning.

happy travels,

jerry.

I just made a withdrawal from a Kasikorn ATM and got hit with the 150 baht fee. Are there any banks left where we won't get hit with this ridiculous charge?

A broader question is: Does anyone know how to transfer money from an overseas bank to Thailand without getting overcharged?

I did a test transfer of $100 dollars from my U.S. bank to Bangkok Bank a few months ago and lost about 7% in the process; I was expecting about 3500 baht and received around 3250. I didn't get a breakdown of the cost so I don't know how much is a flat rate fee, how much a percentage fee, and how much a poor exchange rate. If it's mostly flat rate, meaning 250 baht for all transfers and a reasonable exchange rate, I can try transferring a large sum once a month, but I don't want to transfer a couple of thousand dollars and have 7% of that disappear. Does anyone have any information on this?

I will pose this question to my U.S. bank, but they won't be able to tell me what Bangkok Bank is charging, and I don't know who to ask at Bangkok Bank.

i withdrew from krungsri atm today, no charge