OldAsiaHand

For decades there was a book dealer here operating under the name of White Lotus Books. They moved several times and I lost track of them, but the owner -- German, as I recall -- was always 'the man' when it came to the sort of thing you are asking about. I'm sorry I don't a specific location for White Lotus anymore, but do try to track the place down. That's exactly the guy you need.

And if you believe this, I have some terrific new Rolexes you might want to buy......

I am having no luck finding out how much it will cost me to wire transfer 2 million baht from HSBC in Canada to Thailand either.

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HSBC has a major operation here in Thailand, so there should be no correspondent bank fee for a wire to their branch here. You would therefore be looking at fees only for the originating bank and the receiving bank. I don't deal with HSBC, but I can't imagine that the total be be over $50.

For all wire's, your exchange rate will be the spot rate at the actual time of exchange. The bank rate on a wire at that particular time will always be a far better rate than the retail rate for either an ATM transaction or traveler's checks. On the other hand, rates can easily fluctuate more than 1% in a day, so what rate you actually end up with is mostly a matter of luck.

US Consular personnel make occasionaly visits to Pattaya to handle routine matters like that, but I think it's only about once every six months or so. Otherwise you're going to have to present yourself at the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Bangkok.

Notarizing documents is generally handled at the Citizen Services windows and, as I recall, the fee is shockingly high. Since you say you're not an American, I'm frankly not sure how it all plays out for you. My suggestion is that you turn up at the Consulate, go to the Citizens Services window becasue the lines are shorter there, and if that's not the right place, they'll let you know. The Citizens Services window is only open from something like 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning and then again after lunch for a couple of hours. The best time to go, by far, is in the morning. After lunch it can get very crowded indeed and the waits can be quite long.

I hope this helps.

Can anyone help me out?

I need to buy a lightbox (you know, for looking at negatives and artwork etc etc) but have no idea where I can find one in BKK. Doesn't have to be big - A4, A3 is ideal.

Many thanks

neph

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I bought an A3 sized one in the office supply section of Central Chidlom a few years ago. It looks suitably sleek and works fine.

yup, there's a Villa in the Nichada Thani complex where ISB is located.

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It's absolutely a shithole compared to most of the other Villa markets, however. Most of the people we know in Nichada refuse to set foot in it and go to Carrefore instead. The best Villla these days, by far, is in the J-Centre on Soi Thonglor.

Wealth in Thailand is seldom, if ever, earned. It is generally either inherited or stolen. Sometimes both.

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(yawn)

Did those leaving inheritances earn it or all stolen as well?

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Stolen, mostly.

Thailand is a country utterly without natural resources or an educated workforce. Other than agriculture, corruption is the only real industry it has ever had.

I'm planning to ship my household goods to Thailand around February 2007. There will be no electrical appliances, computers or audio/video equipment.

Based on what I read on the front page of this forum I should ship the HHGs in my Thai wife's name. And since it will have been nearly two years since our last visit to Thailand there should be no taxes or fees. Correct ?

Any advice appreciated.

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The last time we had any direct experience with the matter was about a year ago. At that time, your conclusion was indeed correct.

Of course a modest gratuity was still expected by customs regardless, but you could have guessed that, huh?

Quick question, heard that bars are shut in Pattaya this weekend due to silly election. Is the same in Bangkok???

Cheers.

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Nope. Come on up.

Wealth in Thailand is seldom, if ever, earned. It is generally either inherited or stolen. Sometimes both.

Yes, the hero's welcome Polanski is getting here bothers me, too. Even in Paris, folks are a little shaky about him. I was having dinner there with a group of friends eight or ten years ago when Polanski joined out table with a (very, very young) friend. Three of my fellow diners got up and left without a word.

I suppose the point is that whatever passes for 'the authorities' here in Thailand must be completely overwhelmed by the presence of this icon of international film (who is, alas, the very definition of a has-been, which is one of two reasons he may be hanging around the Bangkok Film Festival). Thus, since he brings prestige to them by being here, they don't care if his love life involves goats dressed up like little girls.

Status in Thailand is everything. Substance in Thailand is nothing. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Personally, I like Tia Maria....

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You're playing with us, right?

Better you go to the Great American Rib Company on Sukhumvit 36 any Monday night. Rob, who used to be in the kitchen at TR in Pattaya back when they made the best Mexican food outside the continental USA (and Texas), is the guy responsible for the wonderful smoked ribs there. On Mondays he does Tex-Mex more or less for the fun of it. B200, as I recall, gets you all you can eat of unquestionably the best Mex ever made by a white guy.

And that's the name of that tune.

But they've delayed the purchase of new aircraft by Thai Airways because of the negative impact the expenditure would have on the balance of trade. Its 'toys for the boys', but screw the public. So what else is new?

I'd also appreciate if someone could tell me where to find the best Apple Computer supplier in this fair land.

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A company called Copperwired Ltd that's owned by US-resident Thais operates several shops here until the name Apple Centre. There's one in Siam Discovery, one in J-Centre on Soi Thonglor, one in Geysorn Plaza, and another one somewhere else, I think. They are sharp looking stores, not at all Thai-style, with a reasonable selection of Apple products.

My own experience with them has been fairly negative, however. They seem to have few, if any, employees who speak enough English to be helpful to a non-Thai speaker. Far worse, I've gotten the attitude treatment there enough that I wouldn't go back again. Their clerks seem to think they're just too cool and hip for their own skin. To them that apparently means they should talk only to equally cool and hip young Thais and maybe a few Japanese. Middle-aged white guys are not on the same planet with them and we are rudely shrugged off and ignored into oblivion.

Try them if you want, however. Maybe you're not a middle-aged white guy, or even if you are, maybe you'll get lucky.

Blake 7 and I went to the Soi 7 Beergarden on tesday.

Its full of scrofulous old men, morbidly obese and borderline sociopathic......

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Easy does it, young man. Try to find a little charity in your heart, huh?

One of these days you'll probably be old and fat yourself; and as for the rest of your characterization, my own observation is that a large portion of the western hangers-on around Thailand of all ages could accurately be described as 'borderline sociopathic,' not just the older ones.

By any chance, do most Thai models and movie stars go there on Friday?

Since the spot rate for the Thai baht can easily range over more than 1% on any given day, and since they don't tell you on exactly what day the exchange rate for your purchase was accounted for (let alone at what time), these are tough charges to nail down. You really have no way at all of determining what the 'correct' rate was so that you can then calculate what spread and/or fees you were actually charged. As a practical matter, you're completely at the mercy of the credit card company.

The first rule of using credit cards overseas is to have separate accounts in any currencies you regularly use. Then you can match up the currency in which you are charging and the currency in which you are being billed and avoid the problem altogether. When you're charging in a currency for which you have no account, however, you just have to grin and bare it, as they say. There is no doubt you will be charged heavily for the privilege, and a good possibility you will be ripped just a little, too.

Most Thai models and movie stars go there on Friday.

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Gee, it must be pretty crowded......

Anyone knew if I could get the suppiler for Birkenstock? Thanks in advance. 

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I frequently pass a small and largely legitimate looking shop in mid-Sukhumvit that has a very large (and legitimate) looking sign for Birkenstock. It's on the east side of soi 27 just north of Narcissus, near the sub soi where Silom Village is located.

However, after years of studying Thai I still don't know the characters, still can't hear or produce the tones and can't even make simple utterances understood. I still have to look at my briefs to figure out what color the day of the week is.

I've pretty much decided that rather than devote more time to learning Thai I'll be better off devoting time to learning how to get along without it.

So far, so good.

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I couldn't agree more. The self-important rubbish you read all the time on this board which tries to equate fluency in the Thai language with the ability, even the right, the understand this place is utter crap. Those who claim that you have to speak Thai to live here or to understand Thailand probably aren't much good at living anywhere and they sure as heck don't know many Thais of any substance.

...... and you lose ubc when it rains.

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And that's the GOOD news.......

And on top of that, if she's a TV addict, you'd better prepare her well for UBC. Having nothing to watch but a few old Steven Segal movies, endless repeats of Fear Factor, and CNN/BBC/CNBC is likely to plunge her into culture shock pretty quickly.

Don't you wonder what all these idiots do when they're not posting illiterate abuse on this forum? It's like they are hiding in the basement with your crazy old uncle, climb up the stairs every now and then, let go with a huge fart, and then disappear back into their hole again. Good Lord. What a bunch of jerks.

I have an affidavit for the UK courts (related to divorce) sworn in front of a Notary Public.

I was wondering if the UK embassy might provide such a service (for a price of course!)

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Yes, although as I recall, you probably should make sure you are sitting down when they tell you the price. If this document is meant for the UK courts, however, don't use anyone other than the embassy or it almost certainly won't be accepted.

I'm so glad that they're finally going to be taking a step up from this creaky old 'knowledge based' society that we all know and love now to a....what was that? a wisdom based society? Jeez, I never knew there was any money in wisdom......