cyberia

it amazes me that people did not see that this is just a troll

The point is many Thais do think like that.

I was just talking to a female student from a rather respectable Uni here in BKK, where they teach in English by the way.

She said, 

"I don't understand why all farangs act very strange in Thailand"

exact words

Love it

Well, I guess ladyboy69 ( hahaha that's a funny one in itself, so U do enjoy 69 and u want to make sure we all know it ? )

how sweet, I will not sleep tonight, 555, that's freaking funny

as for the following comment

< in there own country they would jump in a car just to go to the end of the road, this is why we have so many people over weight in the west.>

I take it you are well traveled, so you know how things are done in farangland.

Would you be more specific and kindly inform me where you have seen such a thing?

Which country are you referring to? or it's all called Farangland as opposed to Thailand?

Meaning, if it's not Thailand - it's Farangland.

Has any of you experienced Harlem or East LA or Englewood to name a few? How about Kingston, Jamaica? or may be South Africa?

Oh, well, the ordinary dwellers in those places will make the Thai "mobsters" look like the Sunday school 5 year olds.

Just to refresh your memory,

Nelson Mandela was a convicted felon and a terrorist backed by the communist regime of the Soviet Union.

He got himself educated on Marxism Leninism( hard core Marxism) in his prison cell on the Robben Island which some call the Robben Island "University" now

Nice profile for a Nobel prize winner?

Well, think again

Yes the violent red thugs think that have it all won. But they are playing a dangerous game not negotiating. They demand all or nothing. That may have good odds to get all, but by not talking, they risk getting nothing. There are still powerful forces in play here not ready to cave to this red mob terror wave.

Jingthing - I don't know where you're located - but if you live in BKK - take some time out and go to Rajaprasong - any day of the week - and view all those "violent red thugs".

In fact - what you'll see are ordinary decent Thai people of all ages - tens of thousands of them - gathering as one to show their disdain and contempt for this current government. A government and PM that are nothing more than proxies for the the ruling elite and what it truly represents - repression and exploitation of the Thai people.

And as you so rightly say - they are indeed powerful forces.

Yep, totally agree with bulmercke.

I have been to their camp at Phan fa  bridge a while ago.

Most people that I have seen are the hard working farmer type that you may see all around the Isaan part of Thailand.

They surely didn't look like violent, blood thirsty mobsters as some people keep suggesting.

Put away your beer glass and go see for yourself.

Try to show respect as they are the natives and you are the guest.

Looks like they've got an force of armed guys looking out for them as well, cyberia. That's what I call preparation!

Well, that could be true as well.

I'm not voicing my support here, this is not my fight.

Same applies to all guest farangs living in Thailand.

As far as the Reds camp is concerned, I would not venture there now, no one knows at this point if the latest events have triggered some kind of

hostility towards the others who are non-Reds, be it thais or farangs, time will tell.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that I have seen a great number of older Isaan folks down there. 

Both men and women. 

Great job, Motoeyn.

I have been to the Red's site a few weeks ago, while accompaning a Vietnamese tourist friend of mine and his wife to wat Saket.

I had not known the Reds were camping there until we walked right into the crowd on the bridge.

We actually made it thru their compound and had a chance to watch what was going on;

the Vietnamese guys made a few pictures and bought souvenirs, it was all good,

nice and quiet and sorta party like atmosphere.

As you reported I was amazed how well this "mob" was orginized.

Showers, toilets, (all clean), I have checked myself , food kitchens, souvenir stalls, you name it.

Have not seen any trash, empty booze bottles ( the usual mob attributes) , drunks ( more of those are of farang nature in places like Pattaya), and such.

There was a stage set up right on the bridge where some kind of a talk show was in progress, many were watching and cheering while other were going about their dayly stuff, whatever that was.

I would not say that they were eager to shake my hand and share som tam with me, but at no time I felt even slightly uncomfortable among the crowd let alone "experiencing the rule of mob". ( just citing a piece of that ridiculous Nation post a few days ago, a real "gem")

Thank you, Motoeyn.

Looking forward for more info from you.

Great video footage, man

stay safe.

Regards

It's about time! Totally justified for all the world to see.

A message to the good people of Thailand.

I can tell you with confidence the vast majority of foreigners support your honorable PM Abhisit in his valiant effort to fight anarchic red shirt's illegal attempt at revolution and the rule of a violent mob. Good luck to and best hopes for a PEACEFUL resolution.

Why don't you keep your opinion to yourself. 

Do try to not speak for everyone, "Father of the farang nation".

Ignorance is bliss, and I do mean YOU not the "mob".

yeah, it should be somewhere around 370 USD.

I used AEON ATM once a few weeks ago. I could not figure out whether they charged me any withdrawal fees or not. It's a black box.

It seemed within reasonable range though.

Have no idea if I saved any as opposed to doing the same transaction at my bank's ATM (Bank of Ayudhya).

As I mentioned before, their customer service is pretty bad even by the thai standards, so I didn't even bother this time.

The actual interbank exchange rate of your transaction is determined by VISA; they have those rates posted somewhere on their site.

My personal feel is not to deal with AEON at all unless absolutely necessary.

You can try to contact them, doesn't hurt to try. The contact numbers are in the earlier post.

Good luck.

GOD help the common folk and expats in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You sure "common folk(s)" and especially expats need help? 

 plz feel free to educate me on who you call the common folks!

This cannot be true, I'm sure it's some German, Italian or Canadian scammer, or try a notorious Norwegian con artist, ever heard of those ??? posing as an honest Zimbabwean citizen.

Or according to one silly post above if he is in fact Zimbabwean it's not his fault by any means, simply because:

"Zimababwe (!!! is there a country by such name??)was intentionally made destitite(I guess the poster means "des‧ti‧tute") by the west just to show that without them earning where they dont sow , they have the ability to make things go bad, very quickly."

I have nothing against Africans, I visited Africa twice and met some good people down there.

Had 2 GFs both born in Africa but both have been living in some other countries for a very long while.

My ex Ugandan GF who lives in Canada for about 25 years now, warned me to be very careful when dealing with the locals while we were in Uganda visiting her family.

And she also said she would never marry an African. Go figure.

I actually found Ugandans rather friendly except for a few ass** but those you can meet in any other place just as easily.

All members of her extended and EXTENDED they are treated me very well. Nothing to complain about.

I definitely loved it.

Long time ago end of 70s early 80s while being a student I have met quite a few Africans also students at my Uni.

From Nigeria as well.

As a matter of fact I found most of them being arrogant (why is that I wonder ?!) and many, I knew it first hand, were involved in all kind of illegal activities. (don't ask not gonna list it here

Have to give them credit for being pretty good students though, they did study hard.

Nothing personal just an observation.

it would be unfair to think that all officers are corrupt.

Thailand's crime rate stays relatively low despite a very large number of visitors from all walks of life.

I lived in Cape Town, South Africa for about 6 month.

Most local blacks were quite unhappy with the Africans from other parts of Africa being in their country.

When asked they would usually say "Oh, they bring much crime with them".

Not that the locals are saints by any means but they were born there and it's their land after all.

My ex GF - a South African born colored woman with a German passport - kept telling me that she didn't feel safe(in her homeland!!!), frankly I didn't either.

Eventually we decided to leave that beautiful city and go back to Europe.

it's a tricky puzzle

It masks the fact that after 50 B is given back the condition is changed,

the room cost is not 300 anymore but 250

and the amount of money to go around is reduced from 300 to 270,

So, forget about matching 300, now we have 270 that has been spent, not 300.

Out of which 250 goes to the hotel and 20 to the bellboy.

If you take an MS program at one of the Unis in Thailand you have a 5 year limit to complete the program.

I'm with ABAC, the Assumption University.

www.au.edu

A two year MBA program (you can stretch it up to 5 years) here will set you back 6 000 USD the tuition and you have to pay University fees - 12,500 THB per semester on top of that.

I cannot remember exactly how many units of credit you gotta get to have your MBA degree but it will be somewhere around 36.

One subject (one semester, 4 months) = 3 credits.

If you wish to skip a semester it'll cost ya 5 000 THB.

Most MS, MA programs are taught at the Bangkapi campus in BKK; there is another newly built campus in Bangna where u will probably find a lot more skimpy skirts, but there are mostly BSs and BAs down there.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

I sent an email to their Hong Kong office (had not gotten any response from the office in BKK till then)

Here is the reply.

"Dear Mr. Alexander

Thank you for your e-mail. I am sending reply from AEON THANASINSAP (THAILAND).

In case of International Cashing Transaction, AEON will submit the amount to VISA or MasterCard’s clearing system and it will be converted from Thai Baht to US dollar at the TT rate (Public buying rate) on the submit date.

After that, the issuer, it is your card owner Bank, may deduct the amount from your account with conversion the US dollar amount to your home currency at rate which was set by issuer itself.

Furthermore, there are surcharge for cashing transaction and it will be charged to Issuer by AEON, but we have no information if whether the issuer will charge it to you or not. Or how much it will be charged to you.

Therefore, actual exchange rate may not coincide with the TT rate among Thai Bart and your home currency on that moment. In each instance, the conversion rate will be determined by Issuer.

We greatly glad to you suggestion for showing conversion rate on web. But we would like you to understand that is not to say that your cashing transaction amount was deducted from your account at the exactly public rate on that day.

Thus, if you would like to know about exactly conversion rate or surcharge for transaction on that day, we would recommend you to contact your Bank.

But we would like to sorry for our staff’s providing not correct information. As you know, if your card has PLUS or curres’s logo, your card may be available to use our AEON’s ATM machine.

We appreciate your understanding

Best Regards,

========================================

Wataru Namiki

Customer Service Department

AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) PCL

699 Modernform Tower 21 floor. Srinakarin Rd. Suanluang Suanluang Bangkok 10250 Thailand

Tel: 02-665-0069 Ext#3343　

Fax: 02-665-0379

========================================"

both cards I use are debit cards,

one is Aydhaya bank debit card and the other an overseas bank debit card with the VISA logo on it.

When you withdraw 50 000 THB for instance, the difference in 50 satang, say 33.0 as oppose to 33.5 to 1 USD,

results in 23 USD which is roughly 760 Baht.

No big deal but still it feels good when save a few bucks.

At least it covers your transaction fees.

Your or my bank in effect buys THB and pays for it in USD,

then debits your account and you get the money at the ATM.

Now, the rate at which your bank actually buys Thai currency(on your behalf) from a Thai bank usually is the one that the bank advertises at any current time and is constantly changing.

Some banks have special rates for ATM withdrawals but for the most part you get a rate as if you would exchange cash at the counter in

100 USD bills.

The rate IS the bank's ongoing rate, it has nothing to do with your bank overseas.

Today, at most Thai banks it hovers around 33.0 to 1 USD.

The exchange rate is controlled by the Bank of Thailand, it's them who decided whether the rate goes up or down, it's not free fall.

The banks in Thailand are allowed to play around that number in order to make profit. Sell for more and buy for less.

To thaihome

I canceled the transaction for one simple reason, I didn't want to buy a pig in a poke.

Why I tried using my card?

Just to check if AEON ATM accepts it in the first place, because I was told otherwise by the staff, and it did accept it.

To MJo

Confusing,

What you were trying to do. Take money from your Ayudhaya account using their ATM card or trying to use your foreign card or were you there just to ask about their foreign currency exchange rates ?

All of the above as I have already mentioned.

Why are you so confused? Please, do yourself a favor, don't walk for hours in the sun, it can get ya.

Aydhaya debit card was rejected on the spot.

My overseas bank car was accepted but I didn't venture to make a withdrawal.

Could not get any info from the staff on the exchange rate or where I can look for it.

I have talked to my Japanese friend who lives in Japan.

She confirmed that AEON is a Japanese bank or credit union of some sort.

She will try to call their office in Japan and get the info for me, no confusion, no questions asked.

Aren't they nice those Japanese females

Thanks to all who actually tried to help as oppose to making comments on my posting.

Sorry for any sort of confusion,

Does anyone know what the exchange rate is at Aeon ATMs when you draw cash from your overseas bank account?

Aydhaya bank's rate is 33.0 B to 1 USD today for instance + 150 B service charge.

Anyone knows where I can get some info on exchange rates for the AEON ATMs?

Today I have been to 2 Aeon spots, The Mall Bangkapi and Tesco/Lotus.

Well, they have customer service but I could not get any info from them on the above thing. 

The staff at Mall Bangkapi Aeon spot really tried to help me, despite some communication problems. Big thanks.

I kinda pressed them though, in a friendly way of course, so they started making phone calls to the head office( somewhere in BKK).

The next thing, they got someone on the phone and let me speak to that person, who was supposed to know what's up.

From what I could understand they were trying to tell me that I cannot use any other bank cards to draw money from Aeon ATMs.

The woman that I've talked to was presumably from their BKK head office. Go figure.

I countered (wow that sounds real tough with the fact that all Aeon machines have VISA, MAESTRO and other like logos on them, which means, at least to me, that other cards are welcomed as well, that's the whole purpose of displaying all those names.

Again, they advised me to go to any other bank to get the money. Sweet, but I already know that, I have an account with Audhaya bank;

the problem is the notorious 150 B fee; to draw 50 000 B I need to make 3 transactions = 450 B fee plus whatever my bank charges.

Well, with the branch manager by my side ( a woman) I tried to test drive my Ayudhaya debit card (has no VISA logo on it) - no success just as expected.

I plugged my overseas bank card into the machine, just to check if it accepts it in the first place, I did, but I canceled the transaction.

I wonder if anyone has had any experience with Aeon services in BKK.

Thanks

Rumfoord or whatever your name is,

are you drunk?

Well, I agree, the guy acted as a good Samaritan, no question about it.

I do not doubt his skills either.

What I am saying is,

I don't think he is trying to get a medal for it. It just comes natural to him.

He sees someone about to be hurt, in such case = KILLED and - being a trained individual in that field - he reacts to it.

Great job Mr."C"

Why do most people

1st - questions that?

2d - don't give him enough credit for it?

I do personally admire what he has done.

As far as boxer rebellion or some other clubs that are trying to capitalize on the incident or not trying, but it seems like "trying",

well, I find it natural;

after all, we are in Thailand.

So, live and let live;

isn't that why we are all here in the first place?

Just my 2 cents

Looks like many smart a**s here like to get personal.

A quick advice to the Einsteins

1.Grow up.

2.Get a life.