trainman34014

Go into any village, gather the people around and ask them what they know about the situation in North Korea. Anyone who expects Thai's to know what to do in the case of Nuclear fallout heading their way needs brain surgery !

They forgot to tell residents that these 'weapons' also double as ground to air missiles !

In the crush of people today I failed to notice the paper outside so thank you for spotting that and passing on that information.

Since this was the first time I have gotten this certificate I was not totally sure what it should look like. I know the bank always seems to have multiple rubber stamps that go all over a document and thought the same might be true of Immigration.

Now onward to the Driver's License queue

Don't forget you need a medical certificate. Available at Hospital almost next door to Tesco (can't remember the name) on 108 for 100 Baht. Takes about 10 minutes.

The soft loans teachers have access to are one of the main causes of debt in their ranks. I am amazed how easy it is for teachers here to get large loans for all the latest toys.

All 'Government Officials' (they love to call themselves that as it sounds very important and covers a multitude of jobs) get easy money from the banks on the basis of their guaranteed monthly income from Government sources. My wife has been retired now for 5 years but just because she gets a pension, and used to be a 'Government Official', the banks are constantly falling over each other to lend her large sums of money she neither wants or needs. She has told them all to stop the offers but they ignore her completely, so we now just ignore them and bung everything in the recycle bin. Irresponsible lending and behaviour by the banks is a large part of the problem here, as it has been in the West in the not so distant past.

No worries; a few more Burmese workers will be brought in (expendable), and they will 'jack it up' and put a few wooden blocks under one side. Only needs to be a temporary job as Bangkok is sinking anyway so the whole ruddy lot will be gone in 50 years. Of course; it may not last that long if a 6.9 'Quake happens anytime soon.

Time for all you 'townie's' to run for the hills and join us more sedate types in the Boonies.

They should bring with it the great British heritage 'Fish & Chip' shop in every branch. Tired of the yankee MacDonalds

The MacDonalds you eat at in Thailand, tastes absolutely like nothing served in the MacDonalds in the US. The Thai McD's are crap. How can anyone screw up a hamburger? Well, they do.

ALL McD's are crap worldwide. Steer clear of them and others like them if you want to live a long and healthy life !

I love it when so many people get sucked in by what is so obvious a monkey could spot it. Feel sad for all those chappies who want us all to drive on the opposite side because in their minds it's the 'correct' side; tough luck lads.

Lets face it; they find it almost impossible to change anything in eight years here let alone eight months so what realistic chance would there ever be?

The only building work I trust in Thailand is DIY.

The best way to a Thai girls heart is through your wallet pal......and that's all you really needed to say !!

She must have been up all night practicing how to keep a straight face whilst delivering this speech !!

. Village Cops are involved with family members running these outfits so no hope of it stopping in the short term, or possibly even the long term !

hmm; did you have the same opinion about the "music police" 4 weeks ago

Didn't have any opinions about 'music police' as I know nothing about those people. Two threads completely unrelated.

Several 'dismantler's' operating in the outlying villages buy these nicked bikes and new deliveries are lined up for the chop daily as all the local scumbags deliver their booty. Some parts are recycled by being resprayed in different colours to the original, some are chopped and many mechanical parts are bought by the local bike repair boys. Village Cops are involved with family members running these outfits so no hope of it stopping in the short term, or possibly even the long term !

Around our way they use tyres for burning people. Local garages and bike repair shops all dump their tyres at the local burning area's. I see them building pyres with them almost every week in the villages, first they put some wood on, then tyres, then more wood and once the 'Prasart' is put on with the coffin, they lob Petrol all over everything and bingo, up it all goes. Have to remember for the large part we are dealing with Dinosaurs !

I've always done immigration/passport control in Chiang Mai going from CNX-Europe, but I've never discovered how to delay immigration until I get to CNX on my return, I've always had to stand in an immigration queue at Suvarnabhumi on the way back. I'd be interested to know if anyone has managed to do this.

I've done it several times. If your luggage is checked through then so are you and you should be given a 'CIQ' label to wear on your shirt which sends you the bypass route at Swampy and direct into the domestic boarding area. If it seems there is nobody handing out labels then approach a member of the airline staff and they will get you one. They normally hand them out as you come out of the end of the tunnel.

I use an atm alot to draw for my daily expences . But I have two accounts I keep the bulk of my money in the account that does not have an atm card and transfer it at the bank. Your atm card could have been scaned about anywhere I have also read where there are devices now that can read the card while its still in your wallet so whats safe anymore who knows ....

If this is true we have reached the days of x-ray vision, so what else are they looking at and, where do we buy into such equipment because most will want one !

You will not get a refund for the ticket. No way. Read the terms and conditions on the back of the booking confirmation. I cancelled 3 tickets to KL on Air Asia one time - a good 30 days before the flight. We got the doctor's letter which they asked for. After an endless review they denied the refund saying that they thought the passengers were 'medically fit to travel'. I disputed the charge with the bank who issued my credit card. They said it would be a "slam dunk" and I would get a refund. Months went by and Air Asia responded to every step of the dispute on time. In the end they prevailed. The USA bank told me that Air Asia is one of the most aggressive vendors when it comes to disputes. They play to win.

Can't answer about the baggage.

Yup ; they spent more money fighting you than what it would have cost them to refund your money. Must be a 'Face' thing !

In a country where people will eat anything that craws, slithers, hops, slops along the bottom of filthy rivers etc etc; why is someone worried about a bit of Chicken in their Pork? It's all washed down with copious amounts of booze which will kill them anyway. Morons !

Hmmm, you don't live here but have been scolded eh.

Wrong ; I've been living here for five and a half years and I live in the Boonies so I see first hand exactly what they eat....and what they wash it down with.

In a country where people will eat anything that craws, slithers, hops, slops along the bottom of filthy rivers etc etc; why is someone worried about a bit of Chicken in their Pork? It's all washed down with copious amounts of booze which will kill them anyway. Morons !

I hate the whole dump. I wish the Government and the Management at Swampy would all go and stick their High So' heads down the new bogs. I do whatever I possibly can do to fly in and out of Thailand without going near the place.

Don't feel too bad about it BB; we all learned the hard way at the start but you get the hang of it once bitten. As others have said, do as much as you can yourself, but if you have to use local Dorks then watch them carefully and don't pay until you are completely satisfied.

Don't know about Filipino's but I do know that if two of you are going you must not present Burmese Immigration with a 1,000 Baht note for two people as they do not give change. You must put separate 500 Baht note in each passport.

Best way to go is by 'Green Bus' from Arcade Bus Station, book some days before you travel if you want VIP seats which are the best. It's about 650 Baht return. When you get to Mae Sai you will get off the big bus and get on to a Red Songthaew which will take you up to the border for 15 Baht.

Once at the border you go into Thai Immigration and present your passport and white card and they will stamp you out of Thailand. Then cross over the bridge to Burma changing from left to right hand side of the road as you go and enter Burmese Immigration. Present your passport with 500 Baht note and they will take your photo' etc and keep your passport and hand you a temporary visa/passport until you return to Thailand the same day. Proceed to the town of Techilek and enjoy some shopping and collect your duty free and watch out for the many scammers and tuk tuk drivers offering 'bang bang'. You only need to be in Burma for 30 minutes before returning back onto the bridge and collect your own passport on your right hand side (the opposite to where you reported when you came in ). Walk back over the bridge changing sides again and report to Thai Immigration after filling in a new white card.

Hope this helps.

Right; now you can lock it as from now on all replies will be a waste of space !

Nice try but the worst of the chaff won't leave until they are literally shaken out of the bottom. I know of at least three blokes who are fully supported by their Thai wives and families and have no intention of leaving. Even their retirement visa funds are fronted by the Thai family's who do not want them to leave for various reasons.

If they keep filling in Paddy's with concrete at the rate they are around my way Thailand will be an importer of rice and not an exporter within 20 years !