trainman34014

I'm interested to see what happens to Thailand's economy over the next decade as the Asean agreement comes into play and all the protective tariffs fall away allowing foreign goods to flood into the country. Should be fun.

because the village hairdresser only charges me 30 Baht for the cut and does a great job

My barber shop also charges 30 Baht and guess what, 30 is what he get. Not only from me, but from everyone else (only Thais). If he wants more, I guess he'd have to change the price to 50 and lose customers. He's doing really fine with the 30 Baht, customers all day long.

Point taken Semper but I'd rather give my hairdresser the 20 Baht than give more than 20 Baht to a waiter/waitress in any restaurant. My hairdresser speaks broken English and likes to learn more by talking to me about Football. London, Mini's etc, and wants to know why some English people are Welsh, Scottish and Irish?? The banter is worth 20 Baht on its own !

20 Baht max' is all wifey will allow me to pay no matter what size the bill is. The 10% crap is a European and American thing and if you give that here they believe you are a fool. Somebody said they give 20%; so I guess they are nuts !

When wifey is not around and it's haircut time I still give 20 Baht....because the village hairdresser only charges me 30 Baht for the cut and does a great job. It Britain a decent haircut will cost you upwards of 500 Baht and the bloke still expects a tip too. I don't normally tip hotel cleaners but last year in Pattaya we had a real gem of a girl who looked after us like Royalty, so I gave her 40 Baht and wifey did the highland fling as we left down the corridor !

In America I would often tip 25% if the server brought the dining experience to another level, pairing the correct wine, knowledgable food suggestions with polite, efficient and professional service while anticipating my needs. This takes training and education, experience and is a worthy career that one should be proud of, be able to support one family in a suitable manner, not just always the case of a college kid making tips for beer money (which I have done as well). When I'd receive $500 tip from one table I would not have to worry about all my rent for that month (you know what rent is for an apartment in a major US or city or London for that matter?) What a relief for that occasional time and be able to afford some other necessity, for working a real job as a restaurant server. Still think we are all nuts?

Yes; you are all still nuts because when someone goes out for a meal it is not their problem if they are served by someone who knows their job properly, or by a college kid, or by Tom Dick or Harry from wherever who may or may not need a heavy tip to ensure a better standard of living. They just hope to have a pleasant time and be served decent food in a proper and civilised way. Restaurants offer a service to the public and are supposed to pay their staff decent wages to do the job they are employed to do just like any other job. Do you tip the girl working the till in Tesco just because she may have worked faster than the girl did last week, or the guy who puts fuel in your car just because he did his job and poured the fuel in whilst parking a big plastic advert board on your bonnet? No?..but why?; because these people are poorly paid as well. 'Just because' people work as waiters it doesn't mean we have to give them 25% tips. Distorted thinking in my opinion, but I'm just one man and that's my thinking.

I just talked to my manager and she said that they are promoting it but don't have stock yet. I'll try to figure out when it will be here. She's saying 2 months but...

Promoting a local non-existant product...brilliant, only in Thailand !

20 Baht max' is all wifey will allow me to pay no matter what size the bill is. The 10% crap is a European and American thing and if you give that here they believe you are a fool. Somebody said they give 20%; so I guess they are nuts !

When wifey is not around and it's haircut time I still give 20 Baht....because the village hairdresser only charges me 30 Baht for the cut and does a great job. It Britain a decent haircut will cost you upwards of 500 Baht and the bloke still expects a tip too. I don't normally tip hotel cleaners but last year in Pattaya we had a real gem of a girl who looked after us like Royalty, so I gave her 40 Baht and wifey did the highland fling as we left down the corridor !

There must be something I'm doing wrong, I get charged 150 every time I use AEON ATM machine. This has been true in the past and after reading this thread I tried it again last week at both the AEON ATMs at Siam TV and Tesco, it still charged me 150 baht.

Could this be because I'm using my American ATM card from BoA and they just charge Americans the 150 baht?

I just used my Credit Union Debit card at the Aeon ATM at Big C Extra. No fee charge when I withdrew baht. BUT, when I got home and checked my CU account, I was hit with 2 charges from Aeon. One was $2.00 and the other was $7.93. Now they are a little cheaper. My CU account gets hit with a $2.00 and a $8.00 fee when I use the same card at a Bangkok Bank ATM, which I have a sizable account with. So where did the FREE come from.

Aeon does not normally charge a fee. It is your CU,your bank, or whoever else is involved in the transaction that is charging you fees. Seems to be the Americans who are having all these charging problems.

I love the part that says '' What the Government can do to wipe out the congestion problem as quickly as possible is to make some flights disappear '' ! Well; seems their trying to make them vanish by falling into sinkholes, and if it doesn't work they will have to find a way to make bigger holes appear.

Do they actually have health inspectors here ??

They must be well stressed if they do.

The Tea Money they collect more than makes up for the stress !

Still cheaper to fly from CNX to Macau with AA and get the Hydrofoil to Hong Kong. Delivers you to the right part of Hong Kong Island too.

True; I guess you need to figure in the airport express rail link to get into town which isn't cheap either. How close is the ferry in Macau from the airport? Is that an easy connection?

Depends where you're staying Winnie but nowhere on the Islands of Macau is more than 20 min's away from the Airport. We were in the center of Taipa and that's 5 minutes in a cab or 10 on the bus.

There are two ferry terminals and both are within 10 minutes of the Airport.

Guinness is the largest selling beer in Africa, I think. That's odd eh? Two guys talking about beer who don't drink beer is a bit silly. I'll let the beer people take over.

And pasta is largest selling food in Italy and still do not see too many Thai's eat it

But noodles go down quite well I think you will find.

LOL, you would think noodles or pasta is the same, but not in Thai eyes

You are so right; wifey won't touch Pasta as it 'doesn't taste aloy' !

I did not know Charles or his wife but may they rest in peace. My condolencies to their families. I hope the tragic circumstances of their loss is fully investigated.

Still cheaper to fly from CNX to Macau with AA and get the Hydrofoil to Hong Kong. Delivers you to the right part of Hong Kong Island too.

Here we go, making comparisons with where we come from, where people are always so dambed polite. I understand the 'me first' thing here but it's the foreigners who walk around with superior attitudes that I could easily fall out with.

'Thinking outside the box' is not a strong point in Thailand. Indeed; they don't even think about getting more beer in before the current case runs out !

There are a few of the Guys you are after living in villages around here and I see them quite often. They are usually staggering around in the half light with brownish, wrinkly faces, baggy clothes or string vests and bottles with just a few sips left inside. In the mornings as I ride my Bike around I normally see some of them in the laying down or 'slumped' position which I guess is how Gnomes sleep. Strange, but they always still seem to have the bottles with just a few sips inside laying around with them.

Don't think about death; it will come in its own good time. Think about living and enjoy every moment that you have left. The old addage ''Every man dies, not every man really lives'' comes to mind.

The OP hit the nail on the head by saying ' the problem is my girlfriend can't think ahead'. Seems to be a common thing in these parts as most I've met never look further than a week or so ahead, and some no further than tomorrow !

I've never been charged a fee at an Aeon machine using my US issued Schwab card or TD Bank card. I had a BofA card but never used it because of all the fees.

Unfortunately, I don't get to use Aeon machines as often as I would like. i was in tesco on the Superhiway the other day and both machines were out of service. I'd say that 3/4 of the time I use a machine other than an Aeon one because either the Aeon machines are out of order or the lines are too long. Since I seem to be the only one with that problem I should post here when I plan on using an Aeon machine as a warning to others to try elsewhere. So, here goes -- I planon trying the Aeon ATM's at Airport Plaza tomorrow afternoon.

Should be ok tomorrow but it's a Saturday and more Thai's who are not working will be out shopping and paying bills at Aeon machines. Suggest you go out early. Normally long lines at the end/start of the month when people get paid so avoid those times too.

You don't understand. I'm not making a special trip. I try to use an Aeon ATM when I happen to be there. The last two times I was there, only one machine was working. How many will be working tomorrow?

It really doesn't matter to me. I'll use any ATM. I don't pay the 150 baht at any ATM, but I'd prefer to save Schwab the fee.

Understood; I use these machines every week and I've only ever seen one not working, and there was a Guy there fixing it. Better luck next time.

I love some of that stuff, but it can wait until I'm in a fair-price region of the world.

Dragon Air - Direct HKG - Sweet

All very well if you want to live on the street while you are there and consume Noodles to sustain your body. Hotel and good food prices in Hong Kong don't come cheap so there will be no saving on the clothes. Add the Air Fare and you really went for the sightseeing, not to go clothes shopping !

If you fail with all that has been suggested, there is a shop that has them on 108 just past Kad Farang on the left hand side. It's almost opposite a Kodak shop.

Did it three years ago Doppa via the Bank Swift transfer system, There is a fee but too long ago to recall what it was. Seemed all quite painless at the time so shouldn't be too much of a headache. Good luck.

I've never been charged a fee at an Aeon machine using my US issued Schwab card or TD Bank card. I had a BofA card but never used it because of all the fees.

Unfortunately, I don't get to use Aeon machines as often as I would like. i was in tesco on the Superhiway the other day and both machines were out of service. I'd say that 3/4 of the time I use a machine other than an Aeon one because either the Aeon machines are out of order or the lines are too long. Since I seem to be the only one with that problem I should post here when I plan on using an Aeon machine as a warning to others to try elsewhere. So, here goes -- I planon trying the Aeon ATM's at Airport Plaza tomorrow afternoon.

Should be ok tomorrow but it's a Saturday and more Thai's who are not working will be out shopping and paying bills at Aeon machines. Suggest you go out early. Normally long lines at the end/start of the month when people get paid so avoid those times too.

Now; if only she had drunk a bit more of that drain cleaner it would have saved the British taxpayer a lot of dosh !