tfc

Ice in my milkshakes! Blasphemy!

FedEx

Fedex is the problem. Not the Thai government. The company you bought the lense from is the problem. Not the Thai government. The service center is the problem. Not the Thai govenment.

You are your own problem for not checking that this very expensive equipment could be serviced here in Thailand. Not the Thai government.

True. And for the record I've been completely shafted in my own country(Australia) by various corporations for a lot more money than I've ever been done for in Thailand but I don't blame the Govt.

Fedex has actually always done me right, sure I pay an extra 200 baht in import fees for my vitamins but I save something like $70 per order.

Good fish and chips in BKK? I haven't found anything yet but I've been called a picky snob when it comes to my F&C.

Indeed, well handled. Be sure to improve your security measures.

Like a 44 MAG.

A doberman to take down the robber first and wake you up, then the 44 mag.

I saw Larry a few months back, he is still the consul. Easiest to call him and go see him at the Chavas Resort.

According to another post the BoT is shorting the Thai Baht to the tune of 70 billion dollars.

As long as they can keep this up the Baht will remain high ....... run out of funds and it will soon be 60bht to 1 dollar.

I have lived on Koh Phangan for 10 years now and talking to Thai friends who own Bars, Resorts etc,they allseem very proud of the strong Baht but when I ask them are they better off for it I get a blank Manuel (Fawlty Towers) look

Same response when I ask about the raise in prices for hotels. Thai friends seem very proud that they are keeping prices up, when I ask whether it is good for business and getting more customers they go blank.

I'm an Asian not Thai and most farang don't want to nod or acknowledge me either. What's funny is that 99% of Thais will nod and acknowledge me when I do them.

A friend and myself were commiserating about this earlier today before we realized that we were sitting on the beach relaxing and enjoying a beer and about to get a massage. We realized that life is still good here...well as long as there is no civil war.

Thanks everyone, I've already tried the prefix thing and it doesn't work for me, I'll try calling someone tonight and getting them to SMS me and see how that goes.

Phuket seems like a ghost town in some areas at the moment. Funnily the hotels I know that are doing the best are the ones that are part farang owned as they are willing to lower their prices to get people in beds. The one I'm staying in only has 3 free rooms where as literally 2 minutes down the road a similar style hotel but with even less facilities has only one person in it but charges almost double and that person is moving to my place when he's done his time there.

All cultures have face they just look different is all.

I'm currently using a prepaid TRUE sim and the TRUE people assured me that it was capable of both sending and recieving international SMS. Doesn't seem to be the case so could anyone suggest a prepaid SIM that does?

I've ordered vitamins a few times, every time using fedex and every time having to pay an import duty of about 270 baht. Even after all costs though I still save about 10 times what I used to pay when I bought off the shelves in Australia(Australia is ridiculous for supplement prices). I also wouldn't go with normal post as I love getting my stuff in 4 days with fedex.

Automatic assumption by some members of this community, that a farang who lives in Pattaya is a gangster, wanted in their own countries, up to no good scum bag..

Funny that's what I hear about Phuket too.

If the PM does not crush the rebellion he will be criticized. If he does he will be vilified. He is in a no-win situation.

I'm glad we have such a good man in charge at a time like this. Look at some of the past PMs. Who knows what kind of bonehead will replace him?

A good leader must be able to do things which do not look good.

You can't cure cancer without cutting.

This is true. The PM's actions should not stem from how he is going to be perceived or liked - his priority should be doing the right thing for his country regardless of what people say or think. It should not be about the PM "winning" it should be about looking after the country of Thailand.

I hope peace comes soon too.

Air Asia stick to their T&C for everything.

I've a friend staying in a 30 room hotel and apparently he's the only one staying there. Another couple I met are in another place and again, the only ones staying there and soon to move into the place I'm at. The place I'm at is almost full mainly because the owner is willingly to lower his prices to attract new customers.

Depends where you want to be. I'm staying at Stone Inn in Rawai which is 7k baht/month includes, bath, wireless, cable tv and pool.

Huh I like rawai/nai harn but all the places I looked at were asking for 15,000+ a month so this interests me. Can you pm or post the number? Thanks everyone for the replies, I'm not looking to stay in Patong though.

The phone number I've got is +66 (0) 897306671 it's on soi mangosteen off vijitt road.

Depends where you want to be. I'm staying at Stone Inn in Rawai which is 7k baht/month includes, bath, wireless, cable tv and pool.

I definitely wouldn't feel confident going to Bangkok at the moment but in Phuket where I am now it's as if nothing is going on in the capital.

Wow, I would have thought that older teachers might have the advantage that people/students perceive them as having greater experience/knowledge etc.

I did the Cambridge Celta course 10 years ago and recommend it highly for english teaching. I found the course quite grueling but it's only 4 weeks and you get a lot of experience during the course teaching classes to real students. I'm not a natural when it comes to getting up in front of a class but by the time I finished the course and went to work in Vietnam I had no problems at all doing it. The manager who hired me also said that I'd have no problems getting a job anywhere in Vietnam with that qualification even as a fresh graduate with no experience apart from Celta (that was 10 years ago I'm not sure what requirements are now).

The definition of Work from the Dept. of Employment website. http://www.doe.go.th/service3_en.aspx

1. Definition

"Alien" means a natural person who is not of Thai nationality; " Work " means to engage in work by exerting energy or using knowledge whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefits.

I'm figuring that my friend's advertising income isn't work by this definition then as he won't be exerting "energy" or using "knowledge." He's just collecting income - though he does have to pay tax on that in Australia and they definitely consider it a form of "work" in that regard.

Thanks all for the information and opinions. I understand that no one is telling me what to do and you're all just putting forward information and I appreciate that. I'm going to keep investigating it so I can make a realistic decision on what to do.

I have assumed that your work is all by email, that income will be paid into a non-Thai bank account, and that there is no interaction with Thai customers or workers.

That's exactly right.